Untitled Hook Emma Neverland Story
by LotornoMiko
Summary: There are consequences to growing up. Emma Swan knows this well. And yet she finds herself tempted, and all because of a meeting that had been inevitable. A meeting with a certain pirate captain, the infamous Hook. Emmas about to find the joys and the sorrows of growing up, as well as learn just how far Peter Pan will go to keep her. Hook Emma pairing. AU
1. Chapter 1

Almost forgot my disclaimer. I do not own Once Upon a Time, or the characters of Hook, Emma Swan, Tinkerbelle or Peter Pan. I do not make any money off of this story. This is done purely for entertainment purposes.

-Michelle

Emma Swan has a ritual, one she has adhered to since she was about eight years old. A ritual that would have her climb out of bed every night without fail, find the nearest window, and sit on it's sill. It's a ritual she repeats every night, gazing up at an ebony sky, waiting with held breath for clocks all around the world to strike midnight. And every night, ushered in by that welcoming clatter, the midnight star would emerge from behind a cloud, shining brighter than all the other twinkling lights in the sky.

She hadn't yet been old enough to understand that it was magic she was witnessing. Hadn't been old enough to comprehend the differences in time, how it couldn't possibly be midnight everywhere all at once. All Emma had really understood at eight years of age, was that the midnight star was the biggest, the brightest, the most sparkly of it's kind. Which made it perfect for wishing on.

At eight years of age, Emma Swan's wish had been simple enough. A child's yearning to belong, a child wanting a mother and a father of her own, to love her, to care for her, and to be with her always. At eight years of age, Emma Swan had been wishing for a family, and it hadn't really mattered to her who that family was, so long as she had one.

She came to regret that wish after years of bouncing from one foster family to another. The temporarily families she had had, numbered almost as many mothers and fathers as they did siblings, Emma being bounced from one household to another. So many people in her short life, many of whom she couldn't remember fully, their faces all blurring together, save for the worst ones, the greedy ones, the most mean ones.

There was abuse and neglect in Emma's life. There were parents who hit her, who stole from her, who talked down and degraded her. There were parents greedy for the money the government gave them, men and women who had gone to great lengths to make sure little Emma was considered unadoptable. There were women who were emotionally unavailable, using the funds intended for Emma's care and upbringing, on their own needs. There were men who drank, who were quick to lash out, and in one case even where she had been burnt repeatedly by one man's cigarette.

Emma was never told she was loved, or that she was smart, or pretty, or had a good heart. Instead she was insulted, made to feel small and unwanted. Ugly. Hated. Stupid. And sometimes, Emma believed them, because surely there had to be a reason why no mother or father appeared to claim her and love her.

And yet she never stopped wishing, hoping for a way out of her miserable situation. Surely there was someone out there who could love her. Surely there was a family just waiting to find her. It wasn't always easy to believe, to keep the hope alive in her heart. Even as she grew older, her body starting to mature just enough, Emma kept on wishing. Kept on secretly believing in the power of the midnight star.

Things didn't get better with age. If anything they grew worse, more dangerous. The put downs kept coming, the thieving kept happening, but now her foster parents saw her differently. The women who got to be her mother, seemed to have an instant dislike for Emma, making her do backbreaking chores. While the fathers seem to leer, eyeing her and her foster sisters with predatory intent. Emma wasn't stupid, no matter how hard others tried to convince her of otherwise. She saw what happened to the older girls, the ones who had developed full breasts, who were pretty, who weren't smart like Emma. The ones who didn't know enough to wrap up their breasts under a flattening band of cloth. The ones who didn't know to wear loose, baggy clothing, and always keep their face smudged and their hair streaked with dirt.

Emma had learned to hide as best she could. Not just with her physical appearance, but with how often she was seen by those overly touchy, predatory fathers. It kept her from being molested, from being abused and raped.

Not wanting to be noticed, Emma kept quiet about what went on in these houses. She knew from the older girls' experiences, that to speak out, was to get beat on top of being molested. Speaking out never accomplished much, and neither did running away. Emma was always found, if not in the city she had started in, then in a new one, given to a new foster family, with their own sets of cruelty and perversions.

Emma wasn't always safe from her own foster brothers and sisters. The children were always angry and upset, quick to pick fights, and even quicker to do harm. Food wasn't always plentiful, the older children quick to starve the younger ones out of their portion of the meals. Drugs were often used, and sometimes the older children traded sexual favors for things that they wanted. Other times, the boys might just take what they wanted, regardless of what their foster sisters wanted. It was a vicious dog eat dog world, a cycle of never ending abuse, the children learning from the only examples they had. Bullying those weaker then themselves, everyone seemed out to hurt someone else, caring only for their own want and needs.

Frightened by her every day life, Emma was at times bitter and jaded. Especially when the other children mocked her for her dreams of a better life, of a loving family, where she was protected, rather then terrorized. She was branded naive, a baby, and it was becoming more and more a habit for Emma to be attacked by her foster siblings, who despised her for beliefs they had once shared before the abuse had shaken them free of such notions.

Emma was a stubborn, hopeful girl, not ready to give up on her dreams. But with every taunting word, every cruel punch, and every perverted touch, she was slipping closer and closer to giving up. To accepting her reality, dismal and as damaging as it was. It got harder and harder to get up each night, to creep over to the nearest window, and gaze up at the night sky. Emma had known that soon she would stop the ritual all together, that she would become just another statistic of sick abuse sooner rather than later.

How close Emma had come to giving up, she would never know for sure. Just that she had been close, too close to it. She was crying more and more, not so much for herself, but for the dream parents she was giving up on, the unconditional love and protection she had hoped for all her life. She was only fourteen years of age, and already almost completely without hope. And still she sat on her windowsill, gazing up at the sky, while her many foster siblings slept and wished with all her might for things to be different. For her to have a real family, with people who loved and cared for her, who would protect her, help her be her best and her brightest.

Emma wasn't wishing for more than that. She certainly wasn't hoping for excitement and adventure of any kind. Fun was a foreign concept to the sad girl she had become. Emma had only wanted love and security, to not only feel safe but to BE it. With her dying hopes, Emma wished as hard as she could, her eyes never straying from the midnight star.

She didn't know WHY her wish was finally answered. Or why salvation came in the form of a boy who looked maybe a year older than Emma was. Of course, under NORMAL circumstances, Emma would never have come close to trusting a boy close to her own age, be he family or stranger. She knew all too well the dangers of boys, of how cruel and perverse they could be. But it was not every day you met a boy who came on the wings of a wish, literally flying to her window from the direction of the midnight star.

Already half dazzled by the magic and mystery surrounding him, Emma had still been wary enough to back away from the window. She hadn't screamed, but then neither did she move to invite him inside. Her eyes had surely been two wide saucer plates, staring at the boy, in his strange clothing, the outfit so far removed from the jeans and T-shirts that were so in fashion among the young boys in her world.

As if the flying and the clothing wasn't peculiar enough, he had a kind look in his eyes, a smile that was warm and ready to flash. He looked like the kindly older brother she might have been wishing for, holding no malice in his thoughts or his actions. That alone might have raised her hackles, for Emma had known that sometimes the most cruelest of intents hid behind a friendly smile. But again, she was blinded, be it by the midnight star's magic, the boy, or even her own desperate need for a savior.

It wasn't just that Emma wanted to believe, she NEEDED to. Her hope so close to crumbling, her situation worsening by day, Emma was desperate for an out. The boy seemed to represent it, and while she wouldn't have gone anywhere with a regular boy her own age, one of magic and mystery? She just might be willing to place her future in his hands.

Only fourteen years of age, her options so extremely limited, Emma Swan didn't need to do nearly as much thinking as one would expect. Especially when she noticed the companion sitting on the boy's shoulder, a tiny little female, with iridescent wings, and dressed in a curvy clingy green leaf of a dress. Eyes already so big and dazzled, Emma let out a delighted laugh to see the faerie. Then instantly cringed in fear. No one came to investigate the sound, and later Emma would learn that it was the faerie who was actually a pixie, who had used her magic to place a silencing spell over the household.

It was that same magic, in the form of pixie dust, that was sprinkled over an excited Emma. That first time? Emma could only levitate a few inches off the floor, having few if any happy thoughts and memories to draw upon, to power the flight spell. It was actually a small miracle that she could even manage that much, the pixie pouting at the waste of her magic while the boy had given Emma a sad look of understanding. She wasn't the first miserable child he had encountered, nor was she likely to be the last. The sad and downtrodden, the abused and miserable, they were the ones who called out for a rescue. For a savior to fly down and spirit them away, which was in effect what Emma had been wishing for night after night. She didn't get it in the form of loving parents, but maybe just maybe the boy and his pixie companion would prove better than a mother or a father.

Emma had wanted to believe in the boy, in the magic, and in the midnight star. A belief so strong, it allowed her to summon her courage, to allow the boy to lift her up into surprisingly strong arms. Emma wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, and just like that they were off, the pixie and her dust trailing behind them at a much slower speed.

It was frightening to be so high, to travel so fast in the night sky. But more than that it was exciting, exhilarating, and it made Emma's heart race. Her arms tightened around the boy, Emma not yet able to trust fully that she wouldn't be dropped. But though she clung to the boy with all her might, Emma never once closed her eyes, watching with an avid fascination how the grimy city looked when seen from up above.

A path was zig zagged through the city, the boy heading towards the midnight star. The second star from the right, it took flying until nearly morning before they were able to reach it. Emma actually gasped when they drew close enough to the midnight star for her to make out another world. A world that had a tiny continent of land, with several smaller islands surrounding it, and oceans as far as the eye could see. A landscape that was beautiful even at a distance, and growing closer and closer, Emma being carried through the mist of clouds, until they broke free of the white foamy film, and were just there, floating serenely through the dawn sky.

Emma was beyond dazzled, she was overwhelmed by all she had seen and experienced in so short a time. She clung even more to the boy, feeling as though she might just faint at any moment. The loud boom of what she assumed was a firecracker, startled Emma out of that fainting feeling. The boy suddenly jerked backwards, his arms around Emma a tight, secure grip. She didn't doubt for one moment, gasping as she saw the cannon ball careen through the sky, just missing them both.

Frightened, Emma turned towards where she thought the cannon ball had come from. The firecracker of sound was heard again, Emma spying the ships, watching as the round black objects grew bigger in size, as cannon ball after cannon ball was fired their way. They were under attack, and Emma was too shocked to scream, to do anything but cling to the boy as he made a game of dodging the cannon balls.

It was at this point the pixie caught up to them, her voice a high pitched chatter that was impossible to hear over the repeated sound of the cannon balls being fired. The boy actually laughed, Emma feeling his amusement shake through him. The pixie continued to chatter until she was red face, leaving Emma with the distinct feeling she was chastising the boy for what she felt was reckless behavior.

Dodging more of the cannon fire, the boy then took off not towards the ships, but towards the forested area of the main continent of land. A forest so big, it took up nearly three quarters of the land, and made it near impossible for the people on the ships to find them once the boy dropped down beneath the treetops.

Emma relaxed marginally once they were out of sight of the ships. A few of the cannons fired off several more times, perhaps in frustration of their lost quarry. Emma shivered at the sound of the cannon balls launching, but soon lost herself to the odd sight of how tall the trees of this forest really were. Tall enough that if one were to fall from a branch, one would surely be squashed flatter than a pancake on the ground!

Again Emma clung to the boy who took off at an even faster speed. The pixie was in hot pursuit, her dust an angry red. She couldn't keep up with the boy's speed, and would have been lost to Emma's eyes, if not for the glow of her pixie dust.

It was another zig zagging flight, though this time it felt infinitely more scary. The boy could have crashed at any moment into one of the many trees that made up the canopy of the forest, and yet he avoided them all, sometimes at the last second, until finally he came across a glade, with the remarkable sight of a house almost half as tall as the trees it was made out of.

It wasn't a house like any Emma was used to, reminding her more of the rickety, shoddily made tree house of the family that had fostered her when she was ten. But where that tree house had been small, and dangerously close to falling apart at it's seams, this one was huge, looking well made and sturdy. With many windows, and colorful bits of cloth streaming out of them. With no discernable door, the windows too high up to permit entry to anyone approaching from the ground.

Still staring at the house, Emma was startled anew when the boy let out a loud, bird like noise. And just like that, hatches in large stumps on the ground opened, young children pouring out of them. Younger then Emma, and all male, the boys gave excited shouts, waving and jumping up and down in a boisterous display of greeting.

Suddenly shy and uncertain, Emma didn't tighten her grip on the boy who carried her. The boy who was lowering them to the ground, right amidst the excited group of male children.

"Peter, Peter!" Many of them shouted in excitement.

"Peter, you've finally brought her!" Others cried.

"Is it her? Is it really her?" Some wanted to know. And then the hand of what had to be the smallest boy, tugged on the fabric of Emma's pajama bottoms.

"Are you really going to be our mommy?"

Emma had no idea what to say to that, her jaw dropping open in shock. If the boy, who she was pretty sure was named Peter, hadn't been holding her, she would have swayed then collapsed amidst the group of boys.

"Tinkerbelle!" Came a new round of excited exclamations. The pixie had finally caught up to them, looking even redder in her anger. She circled around the boy Peter's head, carefully dusting him with pixie dust, before coming to land on Emma's shoulder. Emma didn't know why, but the boy scowled at the pixie.

The youngest boy was still waiting for an answer, his green eyes looking close to tears, his lower lip trembling. He repeated his shocking question, and Emma had no idea what to say to him.

"It's too much." The pixie, Tinkerbelle announced. "You are going to overwhelm the poor girl before she's even settled in."

Peter gave a sheepish look, shrugging his shoulders slightly. But before he could say anything, Emma was speaking.

"Okay, could someone explain to me just what is going on? Why I am here, where here is..." She didn't outright ask about the boys, knowing orphans when she saw them. They all had the same look in their eyes, a look Emma had seen a thousand times in her own reflection in the mirror. A sad, lost look, a desperate yearning for love and affection and all the good things a parent was supposed to give a child.

"This is Neverland." The boy Peter finally spoke after a moment's hesitation. "A world where one's most desperate wishes can come true."

"We've been waiting for you Emma." Added the pixie Tinkerbelle. "Waiting for a long time."

"For me?" Emma couldn't help but be suspicious.

"For someone like you." Peter hastily amended. "For someone kind and caring, for someone who needed to be loved, for someone who wanted to be part of a real family..."

"That could have been anyone." Emma pointed out, already trying to shift free of Peter's arms.

"It takes a special person to be able to come to Neverland." Peter informed her. "A special person with the right mind set and circumstance to be able to believe in the magic and the land."

"So in other words you needed someone desperate?" Emma demanded. The silence that greeted her statement, was answer enough but when Emma tried to get free of Peter's arms, he just held on more firmly.

"It had to be you." He insisted, staring deep into Emma's eyes. She wasn't sure why, but a shiver went down her spine. Maybe at the sense of urgency when he spoke, the sense of sureness he had in his stated words. Or maybe Emma simply wanted to believe she was that needed, that she more than an orphan, or a chance encounter. That she was special and important and most of all needed.

But as needed as she wanted to be, Emma couldn't quite make a commitment just yet. She was simply too wary, not to mention too young to be anyone's mother let alone a brood of orphaned children.

"I need time to think." Emma announced, and this time Peter let her pull out of his arms. "Alone." She added, when it looked like he and the orphaned children would follow her.

For one second Peter frowned, a hard light in his eyes. It was gone so fast, Emma thought she had imagined it, and still it put her on edge. As did the children, the youngest looking at her with tears on his cheeks, asking loudly to Peter why Emma did not want to be their mother.

Emma didn't stick around to hear what possible answer or reassurance Peter could give the child. She was already making for the glade's far end, doing her best to not outright run from Peter and the children. Her upset was escalating, Emma feeling certain her desperate wish had gotten warped and misconstrued. She let her upset and confusion blind her senses, making her unaware of the fact that eyes watched her from the trees, tracking her increasingly frantic run.

To Be Continued Of Course...

This is more a prologue than anything. Still have to do some world building/setting things up before we get to the main premise of the story. Frankly I'm shocked I wrote this all in one night, and on so little sleep. Though I think I'll save proofreading and spell checking for tomorrow when I've rested.

No title yet...and I also have to make some kind of announcement. I can't and won't promise to always be a quick updater with this or any of my stories at this time. I am having medical problems that affect my concentration to write depending on my pain levels...I'm doubly amazed I got this prologue chapter finished in one night, because with the way I've been feeling, it takes forever to be able to write a single chapter. And yes, I know I owe a certain sequel for the Hook Emma faction. I really want to get at least a few chapters written before the new season starts, but with the way I'm feeling, it might be a pipe dream. I do intend to work on it though...but who knows.

As for this idea, it's a mix of things. Once Upon A Time of course, but also a little of a movie (which might spoil something I intend to do so won't say the movie name at this time.) and a book that I haven't read, but came across by pure chance on Amazon, and was inspired by the back cover blurb about what the book was supposed to be about.

This is ultimately meant to be a Hook Emma fic, but I hope we're all along for the ride to see how it happens. Though maybe my as of yet unwritten summary blurb will give you some idea of what is meant to happen.

This is of course, almost a total AU too...I doubt Emma ever makes it to Storybrooke in this universe...^^:; Unless it's at the very end...which is so far in the future...^^;;

I also want to thank my friend Huntress, who got to read the draft up to when Peter first arrived to Emma's window. I was unsure of a line, and she only shared my concerns. (It had to do with trusting Peter too easily.) The line was ultimately trashed, since it really didn't sit well with either of us, and I was able to write the rest of the encounter hopefully much improved. Thanks hon! :)

-Michelle


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for Emma Swan to feel hopelessly lost. As lost physically as she felt spiritually, abandoned by the world, her parents, maybe even a God she wasn't quite sure she believed in. Let down by life, her hopes disappointed time and time again, Emma was awash with sadness, with confusion, and even bitter anger. Far too used to things being unfair, and wondering why she was reacting so harshly to something that shouldn't have surprised her, Emma was still upset. Be it with the boy Peter, the brood of children that had surrounded her earlier, or even with herself for daring to believe in her wish coming true, Emma didn't know. But she felt betrayed, tricked, maybe even used. And all because she wasn't ready to be a mother, wasn't ready to be depended on by anyone, let alone a whole horde of young children.

Children who had looked at her like she was their last chance at salvation, who had been hungry for her acceptance, who had needed her. Emma wasn't able to trust in that need of theirs, far too suspicious to believe they were the answer to her problems and she theirs. Even as she felt that same yearning, that desire to have a loving mother who adored and coddled her, who supported and took care of her, Emma couldn't match her needs to that of those boys.

It was her young mind rebelling, her self preserving instincts flaring, Emma far too hurt and damaged by the abuse suffered at the hands of the many people in her short life. What maternal instincts she might have had, were all but snuffed out, Emma unable to give what she herself had never received but had always wanted. That alone let her know she was unfit for the role Peter and the boys would have her fill, Emma not even able to pretend at being a mother.

Positive she was broken beyond repair, Emma ran. Away from Peter and Tinkerbelle, away from the young boy's teary eyes, away from the oddly delightful looking house in the forest glade. She ran from the opportunity given her, being swallowed up by the dark forest, letting her thoughts consume her, blind and numb her to her surroundings.

Scratched up by thorny bushes, her pajama bottoms getting ripped and torn in her flight, Emma barely noted the pain of her injuries due to how much she hurt inside. No destination in mind, she just wanted to get away before her wish twisted even more, and sent new waves of disappointments to her.

She didn't even have a plan. Didn't have any idea of her future. She didn't even try to contemplate what might happen for her inability to play mother to a group of needy orphans, the idea of being brought back to her foster family simply to awful a fear to consider. Emma just kept running, and maybe she would have run for forever, but instead her foot hit something, which sent her crashing down to her knees in a shallow pool of water.

The water was cold, sending a shock through her, bringing her out of the thoughts and fears Emma had been locking herself into. None of her confusion or disappointment faded, but she was able to think enough to be aware of some her surroundings. And realize how very alone she now was.

The forest was so dark around her, only a few sliver thin shafts of sunlight made it through the trees' leafy canopy. Shadows and dark spots were everywhere, and she heard the noise of the forest. The sounds of the animals that lurked within, many of them making such fiercesome, horrendous, scary noises. Emma shivered, wondering how, IF anyone would ever be able to find her, even Peter and his pixie. Emma wondered if she even wanted to be found, if it wouldn't be better for everyone if Emma simply didn't disappear.

She almost started crying then, Emma staring down at the water she knelt in. Part of a pond, the first of it's kind Emma had ever seen, it's settling surface was glassy like a mirror. Her reflection was there, peering up with more hurt and sadness than any fourteen year old should have ever known. The first tear actually slipped, plopping into the water, sending ripples outward. Emma angrily brushed her fist over her wet eyes, wiping at them to stop any more tears from falling, her wet hand inadvertently smearing the dirty smudges she always kept in place.

She looked at herself, with her messily short cropped hair, the blonde locks having been shorn by Emma's own hand in a desperate attempt at disguise and defense. Her face was streaked with faint smudges of dirt. Her skin was paler than it should be, and shock couldn't amount to all of it. Her fingernails were ragged from where she had constantly chewed at them, her pajama bottoms and the very loose T-shirt she wore, torn from when she had been running wildly through the forest.

She stared at the image she presented, and wondered how anyone, even a boy as young as the one who had nearly cried, could possibly mistake her as mother material. Even if she cleaned herself up, Emma knew she would never make a good mother. How could she be something she herself had never experienced? How could a tomboy like her, one who had scorned and shunned dolls, even hope to pretend a skill set she didn't have?

Feeling useless, worthless, Emma slammed a fist into the water, sending larger ripples through the pond. And then she was splashing at her face, desperate to get the grime off, to wash away who she was, to find who she really wanted to be, who Emma was meant to be. She splashed so hard, so viciously, she was unaware of anything else. Certainly Emma didn't notice the boy's approach, not until he grabbed at her, Emma screaming loudly in surprise, in anger, and then in real fear as something that looked like a crocodile lunged out of the water, snapping it's great big jaws right where she had just been kneeling.

Shocked and gasping for breath, Emma realized the boy who had grabbed her, was still dragging her further back into the forest. For a few more stunned seconds, she let him, Emma far too grateful to him to let suspicions rise. And then her own self preserving instincts kicked in, Emma shouting, struggling, scratching ragged nails over the arm that was clamped over her chest.

The boy let out a surprised sound of his own, then let pain fuel his snarl as he violently shoved her away from him. Emma stumbled, nearly fell, but whirled around, her fists coming up as she prepared to defend herself. But blows never fell, the boy who was NOT Peter, standing a few feet back. He was glaring at her, holding a hand over his arm where she had scratched him, and Emma couldn't help but feel proud that she had drawn blood with her attack.

Other details began to register, Emma realizing the boy was her age or older, and dressed in patchy green and brown clothing that was similar to what Peter had worn, and it allowed him to camouflage easily in the forest. His hair was that odd shade of blonde that could almost be mistaken for a light brown, and he had a dusting of freckles on his cheeks and bridge of his nose.

His eyes which were as gray as steel, were narrowed with a glare, the boy giving her the once over and looking like she didn't measure up to whatever he had expected. Instantly Emma stood straighter, her own eyes flashing, her hackles raised at the idea of the boy finding her lacking. Even worse was the intolerable idea that he might have seen her trying not to cry, Emma clenching her fists harder in upset.

"Are you stupid, or just a ninny?" The boy broke their quiet glaring match, still rubbing at the scratches on his arm.

"Neither!" Emma bit out, wanting to hit him just for the insulting question.

"You have to be one or the other." The boy argued. "To go running through the forest, and make as much racket as you did in the water."

"You were watching me?!" Emma demanded, angry and aghast at the thought.

"And a damn good thing I was!" The boys rough language wasn't anything that made Emma wince. She had heard far worse words used by the older boys who had been her bullying foster brothers. "Otherwise you'd be crocodile lunch right about now!"

She didn't quite blush, but an embarrassed warmth flooded Emma's face all the same. Because like it or not, the boy was right, she had nearly been eaten by the crocodile. But she was also too angry to play at being grateful, or to thank him for the much needed rescue.

"Only a complete ninny, or idiot would linger that long in crocodile pond." The boy added. "Everyone knows that!"

"Not everyone!" Emma argued. "Not me! Where I come from, crocodiles don't live in ponds, ducks do!"

Emma thought that would shut him up, or at least make him stop insinuating that she was a ninny. She was wrong, the boy scowling at her.

"Well you're not there anymore, and this place can be dangerous."

"Can be?" She demanded.

"Can be if you're not smart like me." The boy told her. He lifted a hand to his blonde almost brown hair in a gesture that was clearly agitated. "What was Peter thinking, letting you run off on your own?!"

"You know Peter?" Emma asked, uneasy at the thought that this boy might have watched and followed her all the way from the glade. "Why were you following me?!" She added, after the boy had nodded to her first question.

He let out a long suffering sigh. "Someone had too. If Peter won't take responsibility for his messes..."

"I am not a mess!" Emma snapped, having lowered her fists enough to place them on her hips.

"Then what are you?" The boy asked, leaving Emma to blink owlishly.

"I'm...I'm Emma." She ended up saying.

"I didn't ask for your name." The boy retorted, then moved closer. She took a step back, because the boy was truly tall, looming over her much like an adult could. "Just a kid.." His lip curled. "You don't know anything of Neverland, or of the responsibilities that will be expected of you."

"I."

"Careful Jacob." A new voice from behind her said in warning. "You're sounding dangerously like an adult."

The boy in front of her, this Jacob, lost his scowl, seemed almost scared now. Emma could relate, not knowing where to look to, if she should remain facing the boy in front of her, or if she should turn towards the other, to Peter. Either choice would leave her back exposed to at least one boy, and right now Emma couldn't stand the thought, feeling menaced and frightened by both this Jacob and the boy Peter who had brought her to this strange forest in the first place.

"What have you been telling our Emma?" Peter demanded, settling some of Emma's anxieties by coming to stand beside her, rather than at her back. But his choice of wording upset her, Emma giving a quick, fierce glare to the boy, and the pixie that sat on his shoulder.

"I'm not your anything!" She snapped.

Eyes never losing their warm look, Peter took her defiance all in good stride. "Of course." Was all he said to her, then looked past her at Jacob who still seemed frightened. "Well, Jacob?"

This Jacob seemed to pull himself together. "She was almost eaten." He said, scowling. "Because you let her run off!"

"Emma needed time to think."

"She could have done it back at the house!" snapped Jacob.

"I...I needed time alone." Emma spoke up. "It's not Peter's fault.."

Jacob looked like he wanted to argue, but his lips firmed together, the boy holding back whatever he had meant to say. A sharp look was exchanged between Jacob and Peter, before the taller boy took a step back. "I have work to do." He announced. "I trust I won't be needing to do anymore last minute saving?"

"I've got her safety well in hand." retorted Peter. Jacob nodded stiffly, then tensed. "Remember, Jacob." Peter's tone was soft, but held another note of warning to it. "All work and no play is a dangerous path to take..."

"I don't have time for fun and games." Jacob retorted. "Someone has to remain on alert to the dangers of Neverland."

"Dangers?" Emma started to say, then nearly jumped in surprise when Jacob took off flying. "Can everyone in Neverland fly?!"

Peter was still gazing after Jacob with narrowed eyes. It was the pixie on his shoulder who answered for him. "Everyone can with enough happy thoughts and memories, and a generous sprinkling of pixie dust."

Emma couldn't help it, she instantly felt sad, wondering if she would ever have enough happy thoughts to be able to fly higher than a few inches off the ground.

Tinkerbelle noticed. "Oh sweetie..." She said, and flew over towards Emma. "Give us time, and I'm sure you can learn what it means to feel happy." The tiny pixie woman glanced at Peter. "Right, Peter?"

He seemed to shake, as though Peter was shrugging off whatever private thoughts Jacob had stirred within him. "Right, Tink." He turned his complete attention to the two females, smiling at Emma. But Emma couldn't return his smile, feeling a complexity of emotions, the least of all uncertainty.

"Why did you bring me here?" Emma asked again. "Because those boys need a mother?"

"Because YOU needed us." Was Peter's answer.

"I don't know about that..." Emma shifted uncomfortable, and Tinkerbelle flew towards her face, wagging a pointed finger at her.

"Didn't you wish for a family? For a family that would love and care for you, make you feel safe and protected?"

"I wished for a mother and father!" Emma protested.

"Family comes in all shapes and sizes." Tinkerbelle pointed out. "What does it matter if it's a mother or a father, or a bunch of brothers who give you the love and caring you so crave?"

"I don't...I'm not sure..."

"Why would you even cling to the ideas of having a mother and a father?" Peter asked. "When it was a mother and a father who abandoned you in the first place. Who abandoned ALL of the lost boys?"

"The lost boys?"

"Jacob and the others, the children waiting back at the glade." Peter clarified. "Every single one of them orphans, unloved, unwanted by those that should have revered them over all other."

"The lost boys know all about being abandoned, about craving a family." added Tinkerbelle. "They take care of each other, love each other, but there's an element missing..."

"An element you can fill, Emma." Peter told her.

"By being their mother?" Emma shook her head no. "I don't, I can't..." She shivered, hugging her arms around her. "I can't take care of anyone, I can barely take care of myself, let alone another and in a scary land like this one."

"Neverland CAN be scary, but it is also a land of wonder. Of beauty and never ending fun." Peter told her, and reached out a hand to her. A hand Emma didn't take, instead just staring at it. "Give us a chance Emma. Give ME a chance."

"A chance to do what?" Emma whispered.

"To show you Neverland. To convince you of it's wonder, and how it will be the perfect fit for you."

Still so uncertain, Emma began to chew nervously at her bottom lip, all the while staring at Peter's hand.

"Please." He added, and gave her an encouraging smile.

"What do you have to lose, sweetie?" Tinkerbelle asked, and that decided things for Emma. Because there was really nothing left to her, and maybe just maybe she stood everything to gain if Peter could convince her of Neverland and the family just waiting for her to claim it.

"All right." She said, and reached for his hand. It took more courage than Emma would ever admit to, and there was a healthy dose of excitement coursing through her. She didn't want to give herself over to it, knowing too well how easily it and her hopes could be dashed. Knowing that, she still let Peter pick her up, Emma still unable to fly on her own.

This time Tinkerbelle chose to sit on Emma's shoulder, rather than chase after Peter's much faster flying. When Emma grew nervous at Peters' seemingly reckless and erratic navigation through the forest, Tinkerbelle whispered reassurances in her ear.

"Don't worry Emma. Peter knows this forest like he does his own hands."

Those hands were carefully holding her, in place on her body in spots that could in no way be deemed inappropriate. It was so different from what she knew, Emma's only true experience with boys her own age or older, was to be groped at, hit, and called names like bitch or worse. Peter treated her gently, didn't grab at her ass, and had never once called her a name or insulted her. It was strange, but nice Emma decided, and if she could trust more, she would have been willing to believe Peter would always be like this.

As Peter continued to behave, to treat her nicely, Emma began to relax. By the time they reached the mermaid's lagoon, Emma was nearly smiling. Peter flew her out to the middle of the lagoon, hovering over the waters. Water that was clear enough for her to see below it's rippling surface, Emma first shocked, then delighted and amazed to see honest to goodness mermaids swimming about with the fish and other marine life.

No mermaids came close to broaching the surface of the water. Emma didn't think it strange that the sight of a flying boy and human girl might make the mermaids too nervous to come near. But at least the unicorn that came to drink at the lagoon, was calm enough at Peter's approach, that Emma was allowed to touch it's silky white mane.

Never so girlish as to have dreamt of rainbows and unicorns, Emma was still enchanted by the great horned horse before her. It wasn't like anything like the few pictures she had seen of the one time thought imaginary beast, not wispy thin and pretty, but sturdy and strong, and several times larger than a horse of the human realm. Next to it, Emma wouldn't have been able to reach high enough to touch it's mane, not without Peter holding her up off the ground.

There were other creatures to see. some similar to the ones of Emma's world, but many considered fictional, imaginary, not real. Here in Neverland they were, and Emma was amazed, delighted, even scared of the more fierce, and possibly dangerous beasts they came across. Especially that of the dragon.

It wasn't just beasts that Peter showed her. There were people living here in Neverland. She got to meet the pixie tribe who were otherwise scared of humans, but allowed Emma to come close enough because she was with their friend Peter. It was explained to her, that humans, pirates especially, hunted the pixies for their magic, for the dust that would allow them to fly. The pixies refused to share with those fiends, and many of their kind had been killed in retaliation by the pirates.

The pirates were the ones who had shot at Peter and Emma earlier in the day. They were the one group out of all the people, the elves, the Indians, the pixies and the dwarves, that Peter didn't bring Emma to for an introduction. Pirates were dangerous, as Peter told her, not to be trusted, and to be avoided at all costs by Emma.

Remembering how the pirates had fired cannon balls unprovoked at her and Peter, Emma could only take to heart his warning. The pirates seemed scary, maybe as bad as the adults that had been a part of her various foster families, none of who she wanted to return to.

Peter told her some about the lost boys, including about Jacob and others closer to his age. The older boys had more duties and responsibilities, guarding the forest from pirates, playing at being look out, and hunting down food. But Peter was careful to insist on them alternating tasks, on taking a break from their duties, switching out every day so that they all had time to play, to be the children they were at heart.

Peter's face seemed to darken when Emma pointed out Jacob hadn't acted very child like. "Jacob has almost forgotten what it's like to be a child." Peter told her, and for some reason that made her shiver. As did the next thing Peter said, the boy urging Emma to never forget that herself.

"I'm not sure I've ever been able to be a child." Emma confessed, as they sat high up on the branches of one tree. "I certainly don't know how to act one..."

"The lost boys will help you." Peter assured her. "They'll help you to remember what was lost, to help you rediscover that childlike joy and wonder that had been denied to you."

It sounded wonderful, so wonderful Emma nearly started crying then and there. Peter seemed uncomfortable with her tears, but it made sense. In a place like Neverland, where children were supposed to always be happy and at play, there was no room for tears and sniffles. It was a dreamlike existence, a place of wonder and happiness, of excitement and adventure, and yes a little bit of danger too. Emma was falling in love with the idea of Neverland, had all but come to a decision when he brought her back to the glade with the giant tree house.

This time the young boys didn't swarm her, though the youngest of the bunch nervously approached her. Seeing the sight of tears in his eyes, Emma felt bad to know she was at least partly responsible for making this boy s sad. She knelt down to be eye level with the child, the boy not daring to repeat the question he had asked when first meeting her.

"I can't be your mother." She told him gently, brushing her fingers over his dampening cheek. "I don't know how. But..." She hesitated just a second, brushing aside a feeling of wrongness because what could be wrong with Neverland and the decision she was about to voice? "But I can be your big sister."

"Is a big sister better than a mother?" The little boy asked, and Emma grinned.

"Oh, a big sister is a million times better than that!"

The little boy looked awed at the thought, and immediately wanted to know what a big sister could do.

"Big sisters play games, build forts, and have fun." She told him,and he looked worried then.

"Do big sisters give baths, read stories, and make their little brothers eat their vegetables?"

"No, that's a mother's job." Emma answer made the child grin so wide, she though his face would split from his smile.

"I think I'm gonna like having a big sister then!" The boy said, and the other children approached, voicing questions of their own. Questions Emma answered with positives, a resounding cheer going up in the glade as the boys moved to pile on in as a group huddle around Emma, welcoming her as their new family, the big sister they had never known they had wanted.

The boys would want to do more to welcome their new big sister, to celebrate her arrival and decision to stay. But Emma's energy was at last winding down, the girl not having slept in hours. To the disappointed aws of the boys around her, Tinkerbelle ordered them all to bed, the tiny pixie seeming to take well to bossing the family around.

Emma was shown to a room of her own, a tiny alcove separated by a curtain from the bedroom of the boys. It was high up in the tree, and had a small round window carved into the wood, allowing her to peer out into the forest. She couldn't see the sky let alone any stars, and that made her feel a little sad, but she still whispered a private thank you to the largest, most sparkly, most magical star she had ever known. The midnight star, whose lands she was now a part of.

It all felt like a dream, a miracle, and Emma prayed she wouldn't wake to a cold reality. She didn't want to find out Neverland was not real, that she was still stuck as an unwanted child in a terribly abusive foster family's home. She would quietly cry in the morning, when she awoke still snug in the alcove's bed, and the boys would soon pile in to comfort and make her laugh. There were too many names to learn all at once, but in time Emma would learn all of them, and the likes and personalities of each of her brothers, both big and small. She'd go on to have great fun with them, to learn the ins and outs of the forest, how to navigate it and it's few dangers. She had adventures, and learned to be happy and to fly. She learned practically every nook and cranny of the large forest, made friends with the Indian tribes, who traded with Peter and the lost boys their food and clothing.

Emma flourished with the Lost Boys, no longer hiding herself under dirt and loose clothing. Her blonde hair grew out, almost down to the small of her back, and her skin took on the healthy golden glow of a tan. She loved it in Neverland, and Neverland loved her, and soon she lost complete track of time.

Emma was fourteen years old when she first arrived in Neverland. And of the one hundred and fifty years that had passed since then, she had not aged one bit. Forever fourteen, forever a child, Emma couldn't think of a single good reason why she would EVER want to grow up. And never ever dreamed that of all the people, sights, and things in Neverland, it would be the pirates she avoided, that would hold the ultimate temptation to her.

To Be Continued...

Okay the prologue setting up is finally over. Whoo! Hook is supposed to finally get some presence in three. I still gotta figure out how to get it started, how to organize all my thoughts. I am freaking amazed I got two chapters done in so short a time. Let's hear it for pain medication working...which I am out of and my doctor hasn't called back with refill information...X_X ( I take two kinds..only out of one kind...so I have some of the other at least, thank goodness...but I worry that without both the pain will hit bad. =/)

But still so happy, and energized! Whoo! About to enjoy some raspberries before I spell check and proofread. XD

Also taking title suggestions, if anyone has any they want to shoot my way. It's weird, for my Hook Emma stuff, I can never figure out a title before I start writing. Kinda drives me batty. I swear I have some weird perfectionist streak in me for the titles.

-Michelle

Scifiglrl10, thank you. I'm super excited myself by this particular idea. XD *looking gleeful*

Cherry2, thank you. I hope so too. Though there's something I'm worried about that I know will most likely be very difficult for me to get right. I'm almost dreading it to be honest, that difficult part. X_X Thanks for the title suggestions too...I rather like Finding Neverland but I am holding off on picking a final title at the moment...still trying to get that perfect fit for a title, you know?

Onetreefan, thanks I was pretty happy with it too! And amazed I put together it in so short a time...I think I took almost three weeks of on and off writing before I had completed my last chapter for a different fic, so to write a chapter in a few hours is shocking to me considering how much I have slowed down for August and September. Thanks again!


	3. Chapter 3

On a day that should have been much like any other, Emma Swan found she had woken up with an inexplicable sense of unease. A restless, anxious feeling, the likes of which she was no longer accustomed to. The persistent worry that gnawed at her insides immediately brought up long buried memories of her best forgotten experiences as a foster child. Upsetting times where she had always been tense and afraid, and had barely known how to have fun, let alone know what it meant to be loved.

But she knew love now, and that knowledge was enough to chase away the worse of her unexplained fear. But not the unease, the sense of foreboding that something was going to happen. Something bad, something worse than the fact that Evan had gone missing.

He wasn't the first of the lost boys, to just up and disappear one night. Nor did a sad Emma in any way think he would be the last. It was simple inevitable, that the older boys eventually tired of being children, that they finally did the one thing forbidden Emma and the other lost brood. They grew up, discarding childhood dreams, forgetting how to have fun, turning their back on the love of their family.

Adults now, they abandoned Emma and the lost boys, taking off for parts unknown. The assumption was they used the last of their pixie dust, to leave Neverland. Peter didn't want to believe that, refused to give up on the boys-men who had abandoned the family. Each time a lost boy vanished, Peter would take the older of the family out on a search that would last days, weeks at best. And each time Peter and the other Lost Boys would return empty handed.

Lost boys had been growing up and leaving, for as long as Emma could remember, starting with Jacob, the surly mouthed teen. Acting much older than a Lost Boy should, Jacob was the one who had saved Emma from a crocodile and called her a ninny her first day in Neverland. He had seem annoyed with her, agitated, and had explicitly ignored Peter's warnings of what would happen if he didn't take more time to enjoy himself with play.

Emma hadn't gotten to know Jacob very well. Certainly not enough to cry over him when he disappeared a scant three days later. But there were other lost boys, friends and brothers she had loved and held dear. Those boys who had disappeared she had mourned as though they had died. In a way they had, becoming mean old adults who no longer cared for Emma and the children who had once been their only family.

Not understanding why anyone would want to grow up, Emma always swore to herself that the same thing would not happen to her. She threw herself harder into play, into having fun, into enjoying herself the way only a child could. She kept herself and the younger lost boys busy, distracted from their loss. She'd take them on field trips, sometimes to the lagoon to hide among the bushes and listen to the mermaids' songs. Other times they would visit the Indian Tribe, dressed up in their native garb, and play with the sons and daughters there. Sometimes they would tease the mean old dragon, who in his very advance age of a half a million years, was no longer fast enough to do anything but snap jaws at the empty air where they had been.

Sometimes they wouldn't visit anyone, just play amongst themselves in the forest. Tag and ball, hide and a go seek, skating on crocodiles pond when the water had iced over. They'd hold mock battles, fighting it out amongst each other for the right to sit back and relax while the losers made a sloppy dinner for them all to enjoy.

With the younger lost boys, it was almost always fun and games. Not like with the older ones, the teenage ones. Those who had responsibilities, which was a dangerous cliff edge to straddle. Someone had to look out for, to take care of and provide for the younger children, but in doing so, it made the teenagers start to take on adult like qualities. Peter tried to thwart their growing up, by making them play every other day, and for the most part it worked. But every once in a while, someone like Jacob or the now missing Evan, grew up anyway.

Emma never got used to it when one of the lost boys left them permanently. It always made her just so awfully sad, which made Peter angry, and more determined to find those who had gone missing. If only to make them apologize to Emma! The younger of the lost boys, made it their mission to distract her from her sadness, to make her laugh and be happy. They didn't want their big sister crying, wanted to see her bright happy smile.

But on this uneasy day, Emma found herself faking that good cheer. Not even the pillow fight that had erupted that morning, that had ended in an explosion of feathers, had worked to make her forget her unease. She pretended otherwise, not understanding, not realizing that this wasn't going to be just another ordinary if fun day, but the ushering in of the start of the next important phase in her life.

Emma might have felt better if Peter had been around for her to share her worries to. But with Evan missing, Peter had been gone for three days already, searching with the oldest of the lost boys for their runaway brother. No one had much hope that Evan would be found, let alone still as a child, but Peter found it hard to let go. He wouldn't stop searching until absolutely sure there was no way Evan would be coming back, which meant Peter might be gone for another week at the very least.

With no one to talk to, not even her older brothers, Emma tried to let the younger of the lost boys keep her distracted. But she was too tense to truly enjoy herself, her restless energy finally driving her to call an impromptu sword practice. It was the one kind of class the lost boys truly liked, enjoying practicing their skill with a sword in the hopes it would make them better at their games of mock war, make teasing mean old mister dragon more fun, and help them win against the pirates who plagued Neverland.

The lost boys that remained with Emma, were far too young to train with steel, and most were too innocent to realize the difference between a real sword and a wooden one. Emma played at dueling with the boys, working out some of her tension through the handling of the wooden sword she currently borrowed. Emma wasn't about to use her very real steel sword against the younger boys' wooden ones. Neither did she use her full skill as a swordswoman against these young ones, not wanting to discourage them with how easily she could disarm them with a simple twist of her wrist.

Instead, she was in the process of letting the youngest of the lost boys, a child named Bradley, disarm her when a commotion sounded. With just a word from Emma, the lost boys were taking to the sky, nervous but excited, ready to dart into the house just in case the worst had happened, and the secret glade had been discovered.

Emma who had tossed down the wooden practice sword, was already drawing the steel blade from the scabbard at her side. Ready to defend her family and home, the tension she felt surged stronger, winding her up tighter than a turned corkscrew. So tense was Emma, she might have made the first attacking move, if not for the bird call that sang out from the far end of the glade. A bird call that came almost too late, as though the one who had made it was too panicked to remember the secret signals that Peter insisted all the lost children use.

Some but not all of Emma relaxed, her sword arm lowering as she drew near to the frantic boys who ran instead of flew into the glade. Their clothes were torn, having snagged on branches and on bushes' thorns, and at least one of them was hiccupping repeatedly, a wide eyed frightened look in his eyes.

"What has happened." Emma demanded, doing a quick head count of the eight boys, and coming up short by one. "Where is Galen?"

"Pirates!" Came the exclamation, an answer Emma was in no way prepared to want to hear. "Pirates took Galen to their ship!"

Going as pale as those boys, Emma felt as though the ground beneath her feet swayed. And all because pirates had Galen, a sentence she took to be the absolute truth because no lost boy would ever lie about something so serious where the pirates were concerned.

"How did this happen?" Emma blurted out, more frightened than angry. "What were you doing near the pirates?! You were supposed to be chasing rainbows!"

Chasing rainbows, a popular past time among the lost boys, was an activity about finding the treasure hidden at the end of the rainbow. Never in Emma's one hundred and fifty years in Neverland, had anyone come close to finding the rainbow's end, or it's treasure, and yet the lost boys NEVER gave up on trying.

There was a moment of pause, the boys shifting about to not look Emma in the eyes. They weren't scared of her anger, but they were embarrassed to admit to their mistake. The one who couldn't stop making that hiccupping sound, managed to say something about chasing the rainbow near to a shore where the pirates had come aground to hunt for food and fresh water.

"Tell me you didn't..." Emma said, aghast at the thought that any of the lost boys would be so foolish as to go near a group of dangerous pirates without Peter for protection.

Awkward shuffling of the feet, the seven ten year olds embarrassed to admit they had done exactly that. And just as embarrassed to admit that they had left Galen behind, rather than be caught as well.

"What are we going to do, Emma?" asked Stuart, a boy who was nicknamed Stewy. "Peter's going to be so mad at us!"

"Never mind Peter for now." Emma told him. "The pirates are liable to do anything to Galen, anything!" A collective shiver went through the group at that, all familiar with the stories of how mean and terrible, how scary and evil the pirates were.

"Maybe they won't really hurt him..." ventured Daniel.

"I cant take that chance." Emma said, having come to a decision. "And we can't wait a week or more for Peter and the others to come back...not with Galen in immediate danger!"

"But...what are you saying we do?" Stewy wanted to know.

"We're going to have to rescue Galen ourselves." She was expecting the silence that greeted her words, and even the protests that would follow soon after.

"But Emma, you know we're not supposed to go near the pirates..."

Emma had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at them, to not remind them that they should have remembered that earlier. "There's no helping it." She said out loud, already making hasty flight towards the window that would lead into her private alcove bedroom. The boys ran after her, and it was then that Emma realizes something else was very wrong. The boys had been so frightened by their encounter with the pirates, they had forgotten how to be happy enough to fly!

Fighting back curses, rummaging about her alcove, Emma found a cap to cover her long blonde hair. She had learned the hard way that in a fight, her hair was a liability, and not just because it tended to be the first thing people grabbed at. It's golden color, already so bright that it made it near impossible to hide, actually gleamed when the sunlight hit it. Emma faced a hard enough task, sneaking near to the pirates' ships, without her hair betraying her positioning!

It would have served her better if she waited until dark, when the thick mists rolled in with the moon. Her chances at success would have been even greater if Emma simply waited for Peter to return, but Galen didn't have that kind of time. He might not even have the few hours until it was dark, for the pirates were known to be ruthless, merciless humans who weren't above making a frightened child walk the plank of their ship.

The plank wasn't the only danger the boy faced. He could be skinned alive, tortured in so many ways. Peter had told Emma so many horrific examples of the pirates behavior, that even she was frightened at the thought of venturing onto their ship. She actually had to stop for one second, and just sit down, her hands covering her face as Emma realized this must be the reason behind the uneasy feeling that had plagued her since she had first woken up that day.

She had no concept of female intuition, or of destiny at work. All Emma was in the moment, brave as she could be, was scared. Not just for Galen, but for herself, because Emma had never, ever been near a pirate. It was something Peter had simply not allowed, quick to keep her safe from the most wicked of all Neverland's dangers.

Emma had laughed the first time Peter had called the pirates wicked. The word simply hadn't inspired fear or caution, instead putting to mind a child up to something naughty. Eventually Emma would come to learn that wicked didn't have the same meaning in her world as it did in Neverland, that wicked beings like the pirates or foster families, did terribly evil things. Peter hadn't needed to paint any more of a picture than that, the foster family comparison potent enough that Emma had gladly obeyed Peter where pirates were concerned.

But for her family, for Galen, she would put aside her fear, would break what amounted to Peter's only rule, and attempt to stage a rescue. Emma was after all a very brave girl, even under the most trying of circumstances, and the fact that she could still fly, even after feeling such a strong surge of fear, was testament of her courage. It couldn't be said the same of the seven who had accompanied Galen on the disastrous rainbow chasing excursion, the boys literally grounded for the foreseeable future. 

Not even pixie dust would be able to help those seven, so long as they were that frightened and guilt ridden. Which left Emma's own options limited, the girl leaving her alcove to look over the boys who could still fly. It was dismaying, downright alarming, the idea that she would have to pick someone younger than the age of ten to accompany her to the pirates' ships, but Emma wasn't stupid enough to think she could mount a rescue entirely on her own.

Nor would the boys allow their beloved big sister to venture into danger all on her own, though she could see the fear in their eyes as they argued over who should volunteer their help. Only young Bradley wasn't afraid to step forward on his own, the thought of losing Emma more terrifying than anything the pirates could do.

Emma smiled at the young boy, who was barely older than three, and told him of the very important job she was giving to him. Bradley puffed out his chest with pride, his mind too slow to understand she was basically manipulating him into staying behind. All on the pretext that should Peter come back, Bradley would be the one to tell the leader of their family what had happened.

The lost boys she finally took with her numbered a small handful. Of them, the youngest was six, and the oldest was eight, and Emma didn't intend to put any of them close enough to the pirates to be caught or hurt. She wished the same could be said for her, but someone would HAVE to sneak onboard the pirates' ships in order to find Galen, or what was left of him.

With the five boys shadowing her, Emma flew faster than she had ever before dared. For once time felt as though it was closing in, as though even a single second mattered. Even with that fitful feeling of time running out, Emma couldn't afford to hurry and risk being sloppy. Galen's well being, his very life was at risk, and any mistakes would cost him dearly.

Even knowing that, Emma still found it difficult to stop and get her bearings. She and the boys who had reluctantly volunteered, were currently hidden among the foamy white clouds of Neverland, and Deirdric jostled her elbow constantly as Emma looked through the small telescope she had brought with her.

"Do you see him?" Deirdric wanted to know. "Is he okay?"

Emma made a noncommittal noise, concentrating more on scouring the ship tops. The pirates had five ships in all, and of that group, the largest was known as the Jolly Roger. It was also known as the captain's ship, and Emma wondered which of the many men aboard it might be the infamous pirate known as Hook. It was hard to distinguish features from this high up, even with the magnifying properties of the telescope. Many of the pirates were dressed in black and gray, or shirtless, and frankly from the clouds they all looked the same to Emma.

"What are they doing?" Whispered Terry, as another, Louie spoke.

"Why are they heading back to shore?" He wanted to know.

"I'm not sure..." Emma began. "Maybe because Galen's capture interrupted their supply gathering?"

"It's a lucky break for us then..." Deirdric was still crowding her, as though he thought to take the telescope from Emma.

"Lucky indeed..." Emma said softly, but she didn't trust it. It felt like too much of a coincidence, too much like a trap for the pirates to be leaving the Jolly Roger so empty. But trap or no, she had to go down there, and find Galen.

"What do we do now?" asked a nervous Terry.

"Wait here." Emma told them, and finally handed over her telescope to Deirdric. "I'm going to go see what I can find out."

"But Emma..."

"Don't worry." She faked a confidant smile. "I'm too fast for any wicked old pirate to catch!"

The looks the boys gave her were doubting at best. Emma could only shrug at that, knowing now was not the time to waste breath on arguing. Galen was dependant on them, on HER, for a rescue, and Emma was determined not to disappoint.

The boys protests trailing after her, Emma dove through the clouds, feeling the white wispy foam cling to her body as she flew towards the Jolly Roger. It wasn't a direct path she took, and Emma prayed that the round about way which took her close to the ocean's surface, wouldn't take so long as for the pirates to return.

Flying alongside the Jolly Roger, Emma began peering into the porthole windows that she passed. She saw the incredibly messy, even more so than the lost boys' bedroom, barracks where the pirates slept. She also came across a window that showed a storeroom, with many barrels and crates of things, lined up all neat and tidy. And finally, she found Galen, the boy laying on the floor, bound and gagged, but seemingly unharmed.

Emma was more certain than ever that this was some kind of trap, for the porthole window to the room Galen was in, was unlocked. And yet she still wiggled in through it, and hurried to Galen's side. The boy's eyes teared up to see her, and Emma put a finger to her lips to signal for quiet, as she took off Galen's gag. Telling him she was proud for his bravery, Emma began to untie the knots of the rope around his feet.

"Can you fly?" She asked, having a difficult time of getting the knots undone. Shame faced, Galen shook his head no. "It's all right." Emma said gently, and finally resorted to using her sword to slice through the ropes.

But it wasn't all right, Emma not in any way strong enough to lift a boy as heavy as the ten year old was. She simply didn't have the muscles of the older boys, and Galen wasn't exactly a skinny child.

"We're gonna have to find our way top side." She told him, and Galen whispered a protest.

"But the pirates! They'll catch us for sure!"

"They all went to shore." Emma told him. 'IF we're quick, we can get gone before they even know what's happened."

"Then let us hurry!" Galen exclaimed, already heading for the room's door. Emma was hardly surprised that the door wasn't locked, and even knowing that the pirates had left the Jolly Roger, she still found herself cringing at the noise of Galen's scurrying across creaking wooden floorboards.

Emma herself didn't make any unwanted sounds, floating after Galen. She had her sword still in her hand, the feeling of unease continuing. Galen would continue his noisy running, the sound so loud it helped disguise the creaking of a door.

"There's the stairs!" Galen started to say, and Emma was right behind him when something, a hand, snagged her by the back of her green tunic. Emma made a startled sound, already turning to slash out with her sword, and felt it clash against metal. A twist of that metal, had her sword turned to the side, Emma realizing it was a curved and very sharp looking hook that had parried her attack.

"I was hoping for Pan." Came the low spoken purr of the pirate, his accented voice like nothing Emma had ever before heard. "But more bait for my hook is always welcome."

It was then that Emma realized it wasn't just any pirate she faced, but the dreaded Captain Hook!

"Galen run!" Emma screamed, even as she tried to twist her sword free of his hook and simultaneously kick out with her leg. She had the brief satisfaction of her foot connecting with his chest, Emma twisting, turning, her tunic ripping free of the pirate's one good hand as she tried to fly for the stairs that Galen was scrambling up over.

She got the shock of all shocks when she was tackled from behind, Emma crashing to the floor with a pained cry. She didn't stay dazed for long, trying to throw an elbow back into the pirate's face, but he avoided her frantic attack easily enough. His weight pressed into her, Emma's senses coming alive, making her hyper aware of the man. He smelled nicer than she thought a pirate should, cleaner than any of the lost boys had ever smelt. She heard the faint creak of his clothes, the man dressed all in leather. And then literally felt his surprise, when during their struggles, her cap slipped and fell off, her long blonde hair tumbling free in a golden flow of slightly curly waves.

Emma's back to him, she couldn't know the pirate's gaze had narrowed at the sight of her hair, that a sneaking suspicion at just what he dealt with had filled him. A suspicion he meant to confirm, Emma finding herself roughly flipped over, so that her back was against the floor, her face turned up towards his. She caught sight of ocean blue eyes that looked as surprised as hers, the man gasping.

"A girl?!"

Not bothering to say anything, Emma resorted to fighting dirty. Her knee rose, planting itself hard between his legs, the answering grunting of pain like music to Emma's ears. She pushed at the pirate, didn't bother to look for her sword when free of him, and took off running up the staircase.

To Be Continued...

Not much to say this time. Maybe I'm just sleepy...

-Michelle

Rachil, thank you!

Angelfan984, thanks! Glad if I can catch and hold you interest in the story. :)

Zerousy, thanks! And no need to cry, here's a new chapter for your reading enjoyment. Hope the first meeting hasn't disappointed so far.


	4. Chapter 4

An outburst of pain had exploded between his legs, the man known as Hook actually seeing stars. Their color wasn't anywhere as vivid as the green that had briefly flashed with defiance in the girl's eyes, which had swallowed up the surprise she had been showing just seconds earlier. A surprise that had been born when the little blonde had gotten her first real look at the pirate on top of her. It was a surprise he had mirrored, the shock of finding that the blonde beneath him was a rather feisty female, one dressed in the garb that Pan's brood of brats so favored.

He had been caught unprepared, literally suckered punched by the sight of the spunky female. With her long, shining blonde hair, and forest green eyes, the girl was like nothing he had ever seen in Neverland. Certainly Tiger Lily and the women of her tribe didn't come close to sharing a resemblance with this girl. Not with their dark skin and raven black hair. Neither did the elven females, women who were willowy limbed and wispy thin creatures with chalk white hair, and pale complexions. The girl might have passed for a mermaid, if those foolish sirens had been capable of taking on legs. But then the girl had had more fight in her than a mermaid ever could have had, Hook still hurting from where she had kneed him.

Biting his tongue against both the pain and the urge to let out a furious torrent of curses, Hook slowly pushed himself up onto his knees. It wasn't often that anyone, let alone a child got the drop on him. In fact, Hook could think of only one in recent years, and the existence known as Pan hardly counted. Not when Pan was only a being that pretended at childhood.

Knowing what Pan was, Hook could easily make excuses for the defeats and indignities he had suffered at that malevolent entity's hands. But the girl? She had nothing to attribute to what Hook considered a lucky blow, other than the fact that her appearance had taken him by complete surprise. A feat that she wouldn't be repeating, no matter how unusual the little blonde appeared to be.

The pain in no way lessened, Hook staggered to his feet. Above him he could hear the girl, her feet stumbling on the Jolly Roger's floor boards, as a familiar voice cried out startled. That would be Smee, and for once Hook was glad of the older man's presence aboard his ship. Letting his lips curl in a feral grin, Hook hurried up the staircase, and made it onto the deck of the ship just as the girl was shoving free of Smee.

Lost boys were calling out, their voices high with panic. Hook spared a brief glance their way, seeing it took three of them to lift the chubby child that his pirates had captured earlier in the day. The girl was running that way, and mustering all his strength to ignore the pain throbbing between his legs, Hook lunged after her.

"Not so fast." He might have laughed normally, but the pain killed what would have been a jovial mood. He caught the girl around her waist, hauling her against his body, catching the faint pleasant scent of her hair. She went stiff against him for one all too brief second, then began to struggle, flailing one arm, and digging her nails into the skin of his wrist.

"There's a good lass." Hook purred into the top of her hair, when she stilled at the sound of his sword being drawn noisily out of its scabbard. He held it before her, the sharp blade glinting with the sun's reflection. "No sudden tricks and you and I will get along nicely."

He heard her exhale, a deep breath that showed she was trying to retain her calm. It couldn't be easy for her, with a pirate pressed against her, a sword mere inches from her neck. He caught sight of her reflection in the blade, the sun having moved behind some clouds. Her fierce green eyes betrayed only a sliver of fear, but she was more determined than anything. Where as the lost boys were openly giving themselves over to their fear, so frightened of Hook's reputation as the most wicked of all of Neverland's pirates.

Hook often wondered just how many lies Pan had told the lost boys to inspire the amount of fear in the six lingering in the sky above him. Yes Hook was a pirate, and yes he did do bad things, but he also had a honor of his own. For instance he would ALMOST never hurt a child, and his battles with Pan didn't count, because that creature was something more than human or boy.

Not that Hook didn't take advantage of the reputation Pan had built up for him and his pirates. Sometimes the fear those children had was a good thing, for it made them easier to catch. A truly frightened child lost all of their ability to fly, and Hook was suspecting that very thing had happened to the girl held captive in his arms.

Frightened as the girl might be, she was also putting on a brave front, not so much as shivering against him. Nor was she crying, much to Hook's relief. He wouldn't have been able to tolerate a female's caterwauling and tears. He never had been able to, not now, and not even three hundred years ago, when he had been a kinder, less ruthless bastard of a man.

He met the eyes of one of the older boys, a child with spiky hair that was a fiery red. "Tell Pan I've got his girl." Hook called out to the child, who seemed to freeze in place. "He'll know what to bring if he wants her back."

The lost boys didn't immediately take off for Pan's hideout in the forest. Stricken as they were, they clearly didn't want to leave the girl behind. "Go!" Hook snapped in his harshest tone.

It wasn't to him that they looked to for orders, the frightened boys shooting desperate, pleading looks to the girl. "You heard him!" She called out in a strong sounding tone of voice. "Get Galen out of here."

Unspoken was the fact they all knew for truth. The boys would soon lose their ability to fly, a few of them already struggling to maintain their current altitude. They had to make it back to land before their fear overrode their good thoughts and grounded them among the pirates.

"I'll be fine." The girl added, and Hook caught sight of the kind smile she gave the frightened boys. It was a warm, reassuring look that was reflected in his blade, the girl giving them what she believed to be a lie. A lie meant to soothe the worst of their fears for her.

One of the boys actually started crying, before another reached for his hand, and all but dragged him up towards the clouds. The other boys followed, struggling with the burden of the chubby, flightless child.

Eyes on the girl's reflection rather than the retreating children, Hook took the time to tsk in her ears. "Actually telling those boys what you believe to be a lie?"

"A necessary evil." She retorted in a cold tone, that would have made Kings freeze in place.

"Thinking like that will get you to grow up all the sooner." Hook told her, and was rewarded with a loud gasp of sound. He almost felt sorry for upsetting her, the girl having gone pale with how disturbed his comment had made her.

"I would never..."

"It's not something you'll be able to stop." interrupted Hook. "It's a slippery slope lass...and once started on it's path, the outcome is inevitable. unavoidable."

The girl shifted against him, her green eyes flashing with her upset. Hook felt like a cruel bastard for tormenting her so, but his feelings were at cross purpose with his intent. Hook had to make sure the little blonde couldn't fly away, and unhappy thoughts coupled with feelings of fear and guilt, were perfect tools to counteract Tinkerbelle's pixie dust.

"You're wrong." The girl said. "You have to be!"

"Oh am I?" Hook asked in a mocking tone. "When it happens time and time again to the lost ones?"

"No." Her quiet protest suddenly bellowed out as a shout. "NO!"

And then she was squirming, struggling against him, seeming not to care how close she came to cutting herself on his sword. The pirate hissed in response, flinging the sword away from them, scrambling to hold onto her as best he could, given he wasn't trying to hurt her with the hook that had replaced his lost left hand. The girl didn't seem to care about any of it, fighting and shouting, calling him names, trying to kick back with her legs, trying to twist in his arms to claw at his face.

Hook growled, losing what little patience he had, lifting the girl up to throw her over his shoulder. She continued insulting him, kicking and screaming, clawing at his back, pulling at his short hair. She kept up this behavior right up to the point he locked her in his private cabin, and even then, through the door, he could hear her screaming the most vicious of curses at him.

Hook fell against the locked door, and began to shake with suppressed laughter. Smee cautiously approached him, and Hook smiled at the older man. "She's a fiery little handful, isn't she?"

"She's something all right..." Came Smee's retort. "But...where did she come from? And who is she exactly?"

"All very good questions, Smee." Hook continued to lean against the door, hearing rather than feeling the girl pounding her fists on the heavy oak wood. "But I think you're forgetting the most important one. And that is, what is she?"

"What is she?" repeated Smee, who then grew increasingly nervous at the questions Hook continued to voice.

"What is she to Pan? Why has he kept her hidden all this time? Why even bring her to Neverland?" But those were questions Hook in no way expected Smee to have answers to, the older man looking almost comical for how bewildered he seemed by them.

"I suppose Pan has his reasons." Smee said at last.

And those reasons were exactly what intrigued Hook, especially where the girl was concerned. Pan almost never did anything without some reason, his hands manipulating nearly every thing that went on in Neverland. An ancient evil, Pan had seeped into every corner of this strange world, more Godlike than king, and ruling with an iron fist. Pan was a tyrant, and the people of Neverland were right to fear him.

There was a time when even Hook might have feared the demonic Pan, who masked his countless cruelties with a child's smile. But desperate men know little fear, especially when they have nothing left to them. With nothing to lose, and little to look forward to, the worst Pan could do was deny Hook his long sought after revenge.

Unfortunately that was the very thing that Pan continued to do! For roughly three hundred years, Hook had been left waiting. Three hundred years that his revenge had been delayed, Hook's anger building, his resentments boiling. So much time wasted, Hook's enemy thriving in the pirate's absence. And all because Pan refused to be bought, or threatened into giving Hook the very thing he had remained in Neverland for. The item that was key to the undoing of the monster responsible for Hook becoming an angry, bitter man who had suffered the greatest loss thought possible.

There wasn't a day that went by, that Hook didn't curse Rumplestiltskin's name. And becoming just as frequent, was the hating of Pan, Hook wanting to be done with that demon and this cursed land of time never ending.

But of course, he had unfinished business with Pan. Hook couldn't, wouldn't leave until he had what the Indian Tribe's shamaness had promised, that which she had sworen Pan would have, something that was exactly what the pirate needed most. She hadn't told him what that something was, just that Peter Pan would have it in his possession, and that it would be a just as hard to get, as to keep.

He had last heard the shamaness' prediction some two hundred years ago. Fifty years before the whole Tiger Lily incident had put an end to the pirates good relationship with the Indian princess' tribe. Life in Neverland then became even more difficult once the pirates had to hunt and scrounge for supplies, forage off the land they hated, rather than the simple trading and buying they had once enjoyed with the Indian Tribe.

With the tribe's cutting off all friendly relations with the pirates, Hook and his men had had to learn how to fend for themselves. Hunting had been relatively easy, as was foraging, and the pirates had enjoyed brewing their own beer but hated having to sew their own clothing. Worse yet was certain creature comforts they had been going without, the Indian tribe's women no longer a viable source of recreational enjoyments.

Really it should have been enough to make the pirates leave, if not for their captain's stubborn refusal to go anywhere without the key to Rumplestiltskin's defeat firmly in hand. There was the added problem of HOW they were going to leave Neverland, when they had not even one magical bean to their name. There was of course the pixies' magic dust, but those tiny winged creatures were incredibly ferocious, and kept the location of their excess dust supplies well guarded.

Hook's pirates had SOME of the pixie's magic dust gathered, but not enough. Certainly not enough to make more than the Jolly Roger fly, and Hook wasn't about to abandon his men or his revenge. His pirates weren't thrilled about remaining indefinitely in Neverland, but those who raised a mutinous hand to Hook, quickly found themselves as chum for the sharks in Neverland's salty waters.

In that way, those who couldn't remain loyal to Hook and his cause, were weeded out. Of course that meant there was considerably less pirates left then when they had first arrived in Neverland. It was an unfortunate but acceptable loss, Hook a ruthless enough guy to sacrifice just about anyone in his quest for revenge.

Just as he was quick to reward those who might help him. Not that there was many left in Neverland that would. Not without Hook forcing their hand, and that usually ended with the people of Neverland having more reasons to loathe the pirates. The Tiger Lily incident was a wonderfully bad example of that, given Hook had cost his pirates so much in trying to force the chief's hand to make the men of the tribe wage war against Pan and his army of lost boys.

Life in Neverland was more trial and error than Hook liked, and often without any pay off in the long term. Crazy as it might sound. with the girl locked in his cabin, Hook swore he had a good feeling where she was concerned. A feeling that was practically screaming that she was the key, that vital something needed to force Pan to hand over what Hook needed. The little blonde might be nothing more instrumental than to be a bargaining chip, but one with enough value to get even Pan to listen.

The questions Hook had voiced to Smee, were very much the reason why he was sure the girl in green was important. And not just because Pan had kept her presence here in Neverland secret from the pirates. The very fact of what she was, a female child, was odd, and so unlike Pan's usual tastes. Pan dealt almost exclusively in boys, feeding off their energy just as they hit that first bloom of maturity.

Of course, Hook didn't know ALL about Pan's feeding habits. But he did have theories. Ones that had Pan nurturing his chosen prey, letting them live long lives ignorant of what would ultimatly happen to them, once they finally hit adult hood. Likening Pan's collection of Lost Boys, to a connoisseurs' vintage wine collection, Hook suspected the longer the lost boy had lived, the better he tasted just before dying.

Hook didn't know why Pan only fed on boys. Maybe there was something about a girl's feminine energy that Pan found distasteful. Or maybe the boys were somehow easier to fool, or to control. Certainly none of the lost boys had ever thrown a fit the likes of which the little blonde was still having, Hook unable to keep from smirking as he listened to her tear about his room.

A crash from inside sounded, just as Smee returned, a cocoanut drink in his hand. Hook quirked an eyebrow at the older man, Smee turning flustered in response. "For the young miss. I thought it might help calm her down."

"Somehow I think a sugary drink is the last thing that child needs." Hook retorted. The look Smee gave him in return, strongly stated the older man had not considered the energizing effect of sugar on a child.

"Do you think Pan will trade for her?" Smee asked, sipping at the drink in his hand.

"Who knows." Hook said, when that was exactly what he was counting on. But he didn't want to get Smee's hopes up, or that of his crew. They had all been through so many disappointments where Pan and Hook's schemes about him were concerned, that it would be demoralizing to have it happen yet again.

"I suppose it won't hurt to try..." muttered Smee with a sigh. "As long as it doesn't get us all killed..."

"Pan won't kill us." Hook said confidently. Another crash sounded from the room, Smee wincing at hearing it. "Not when we're the villains in his dramas."

"Maybe Pan won't kill you..." Smee complained. "But the rest of us have no guarantees."

Smee was most likely referring to the Indian Shamaness who had told Hook that Pan would have what he needed. She hadn't exactly promised that Hook would get his hand on it, just that it existed.

"Nothing in this life is guaranteed." Hook's lip curled, though he wasn't exactly smiling. "Not even death."

Smee was a man who looked uncomfortable under the best of circumstances. He looked even more so now, given what Hook had been saying. "Captain..."

"Quiet!" Hook snapped, and pressed against the door. "Do you hear that, Smee?"

"I don't hear anything, Captain."

"Exactly. Seems our little princess is up to something." Hook smirked for real this time.

"Maybe the young miss just tired herself out?" ventured Smee, and Hook gave him a disbelieving look.

"I suppose we're about to find out." Hook answered, already moving to unlock and open the door as quietly as he could manage. He was curious as to what the little blonde was up to, and more than a little surprised to see he was looking forward to what antics the girl might get up to as his guest. It had been a long time since a female of any age had been on his ship, and even longer for one that was as brave and as spirited as this girl had thus far behaved. She brought an air of mystery and excitement with her, and Hook felt very much like he was braving a lion's den to sneak a peek at one of it's cubs. He didn't feel in danger, but perhaps Hook should have, or at least been more worried than he actually was. Because he was about to be bowled over, and didn't even come close to understanding the impact this girl would soon have on his life.

To Be Continued...

It's six am and I'm flailing, cause the site login page won't load for me. =/

I had some...difficulties with this chapter. Mainly I got stuck trying to write a conversation between Smee and Hook. I ended up trashing those crappy attempts, and pretty much went right into Hook's thoughts and experiences and knowledge about Pan and Neverland and what not. I ended up satisfied with the overall chapter, though I got stuck again trying to find a good way to end this chapter. It was one of those, my ending lines don't feel like ending lines, so I kept having to add another sentence, and then another in that last paragraph. X_X

-Michelle

KendraCs, thank you! And yes Emma is fourteen in this...its hard to answer your question without spoiling. But no sexual scenes will happen while she is stuck in a fourteen year olds body. Though I have in my head this idea of a scene where an almost kiss might happen, and just maybe maybe, one or both will have confusing dreams that leave them upset. But that's not for a while yet.

ChamberlinofMusic, thank you so much! Hope this chapter didn't disappoint, though I fear it had a lot of info dumping to it. At least in the second half...

HookedOnCaptainSwan, thanks! :D Thanks so much. Yes, I'm looking forward to grown up antics between them too! XD But I have to work on advancing the story first, and the hard part is developing a relationship that tempts Emma into wanting to grow up. *feels like it will be the hardest part almost.* X_X

Guest, well not only did you get more Hook, you got him as the POV character for this chapter. Hooray! XD

Zerousy, oh my! Thank you so much! :D Sometimes even I feel that way, having a certain story I don't want to end, cause I enjoyed the setting so much. XD I'm so happy to hear you feel that way about my stories! *hugs*

Ah...as for Hook not knowing about the lost girl Emma, maybe it takes a suspension of disbelief. But I was going for that Peter Pan kept her a big secret from the pirates, and as you might have guessed from this chapter, Pan is controlling so many people, that they would have been scared to share information with the pirates, even before Hook botched things up with the Tiger Lily incident.

Ah man...the darkness fic...so need to do updates for 'em.

Soulphur, thank you. I'm really surprised at how inspired I've been this weekend, writing so much in so short a time. It's amazing to me...and so glad you like my story! :D

Make war, not love, thank you. Glad you think so so far.


	5. Chapter 5

There was no way to disguise the opening of the door, the heavy oak wood seeming to groan in relief as it was pushed inwards. The inside of the cabin lay revealed, Hook having a scant second to catch sight of it's ram shackled state, before he was under attack.

Turning in the direction of the movement sensed out the corner of his eye, Hook had already raised his arm to take the brunt of the book's blow. A particularly heavy book, the pirate couldn't help but be relieved that the girl had chosen something blunt in her attempt to bludgeon him unconscious. Of course he couldn't in any way claim she would have shown such care, if the weapons cabinet hadn't been secured shut by a thick padlock and chain.

The book, a leather bound first edition that would have fetched a high price among collectors should Hook have ever cared to sell it, was brought to hammer down against his arm a second time. The pirate pushed out with his arm, knocking the girl off balance on the chair she had situated herself upon. She teetered a second before falling, one arm wind milling in the air, the book dropping to the carpet, and just like that she was in his arms, Hook having caught her before she could slam into the floor.

He had a second to be lost in the forest that was alive in the color of her eyes, and then Pan's girl began thrashing, trying to smash a fist into his face. Hook grappled with her, grabbing at her wrist, his arm around her waist. She would not hold still, twisting and turning so that her face was lost amongst the gold that was her hair. They'd end with her back once again against his front, Hook finding it took real effort to subdue the girl, and even more to hold on to her. He nearly breathed an audible sigh of relief, when she sagged panting, the little blonde having exhausted the extraordinary amount of fight in her small frame.

Smee wasn't half as impressed as his captain was with the girl's wild fight, his disapproval ringing clear in his exclamation. "She's a right wild spitfire that needs a good dousing!"

"Come now Smee, who are we pirates to discourage such spirit?" questioned Hook, though he didn't look at the older man. He was too focused on the girl in his arms, too attuned to her every quiver, waiting on the off chance a second wind would restore her vigor.

"Spirit is one thing, but the chit tried to bloody well kill you!"

Hook let out robust laugh at that. "Smee you exaggerate as always. I'll not be felled by such a weapon, and not before I have my revenge."

"If you think to lay so much as a finger on Peter..." began the girl, though the threat she was trying to make was less than impressive, given she still wheezed for air. "I won't hesitate to cut off your other hand!"

"Again she threatens you!" spat Smee. "Brat, I'll not tolerate your behavior a second longer, even if I have to take you over my knee..."

"Now Smee, that's no way to talk to the little lady." The scoff of sound Hook heard voiced, indicated just how unladylike Smee found the girl. "Not when she's an honored guest."

"Guest?" The girl practically snorted. "I don't believe for one second you pirates are that stupid to confuse the word guest with captive." A half hearted squirming followed her words but the little blonde seemed at her limits to put up a true fight so soon after her defeat. "Damn you, let me go!"

"Certainly!" Smee forgot himself enough to answer for his captain. "I'll just be getting a chain first..."

"Smee!" snapped Hook in warning. "There's no need..."

"She'll take off to the skies the first chance she gets, mark my words, captain!"

"That won't be a problem, will it, my dear?" Hook chuckled above her ear.

The little blonde had gone statue still, not even a shiver to betray her thoughts. "I don't know what you mean." Stiff toned, she played at bluffing. Someone like Smee, less smart and far more worried then Hook, might have been fooled by her. But Hook had seen how she had reacted to his words when out on the deck, how disturbed they had made her. There had been anger in her energy, but the tantrum that had followed had been born of fear, the girl panicking in full revolt, lashing out rather than fleeing. Already having been frightened by him, Hook had set off enough turmoil in her, that the little blonde couldn't have any chance of flying. Not then, and not now, the pixie's magic such that it would take another dosing of dust and a plethora of happy thoughts, before this child would be able to recover.

Smiling at her back, Hook relaxed his hold on her. Smee made an objecting sound, tensing to grab for the girl should she try to rush past. Flight or not, most children would have tried exactly that, but this girl continued her bluff, stepping away from Hook but in no way breaking for the door.

Nor did she immediately turn towards her host, the girl seeming intent on ignoring him. But she couldn't hide her nervous energy, nor the effort it took her to not erupt into violence once more.

Now that her tantrum was over with, the girl was remarkable composed given her age and the situation. She hadn't yet to shed a tear, though she had screamed, and fought, and ultimately tired herself out. She seemed braver than the boys Hook had had dealings with, not falling apart in a fit of teary eyed hysterics over what she thought the pirates would do. The differences only made Hook more curious about her, and what purpose Pan might have for her.

Making it his business to know as much as he could about his enemies, Hook stepped towards the girl. Eager to unravel the mystery that she was, not just to satisfy his own curiosity, but to use against Pan, Hook grazed his fingertips alongside the bare skin of her arm.

"All right." He softly said, and the caress became an iron grip, stopping the girl's attempt to lash out at him. "Let's get a good look at you."

She hadn't bothered to brush away the hair that had fallen over her face, the clinging gold strands strewn in every which way. It allowed him only a glimpse of the glaring green of her eyes, her features obscured by the hair, until Hook began brushing the strands aside.

The blunt curve of his hook nudged under her chin both kept the girl behaving, and her face turned up to the light. Her hostile gaze was uncovered, as was the inherent prettiness of her face. Hook heard a sharp breath behind him, Smee having put aside his own issues with the girl, to pay close attention to her looks.

Hook looked at that loveliness, and knew trouble of the worst kind glared back. Older than he had first assumed, the word child now seemed wrong to use when referring to the burgeoning beauty that stood just years short of being a grown woman. That damnable mix of too young yet old enough was trouble, and already she had just enough curves to her thin frame to promise mouth watering delights upon full maturity.

Already quite pretty as a girl, Hook knew she'd be a vision of the most stunning kind should she be allowed to mature into a woman. Something Hook would very much like to see, though he knew Pan would never allow it. That demon would most likely kill the girl, just like he had so many countless boys, destroying her beauty long before anyone, before Hook, could get a chance to taste and appreciate it.

It was a sobering effect his thoughts had, breaking Hook free of some of the shock that had taken hold of him. A shock that had had him unconsciously caressing the girl's cheek, with fingers unfit for a child, his touch holding a corrupting influence to it. Beings less pure of nature than she, had fallen to the taint of his hook, his blood running cold at the mere suggestion of the harm he could do unwittingly do to the girl, an innocent trapped in Pan's schemes.

She wasn't safe with Pan, but then neither would she find haven with his pirates. Their very nature was such that it would despoil her, bring about changes that would wreak havoc with whatever Pan planned. At the worst she would grow up and become just another meal for Pan, a fate Hook wouldn't be able to protect her from, wasn't even sure if he had it in him to try. Not again, not when he had failed every single time, having to watch as boys who had placed their hopes and trusts in his hand, had died with resentment in their eyes.

Hook looked at the girl and held back more than a shudder, unwilling to form an attachment to yet another that would die. It was easier not to get involved, to not care, but doubly hard to protect his heart simply because she was a girl, and pretty, young females easy to adore, while their grown versions were made for loving.

Disturbed by her, by the fate he was almost certain Pan had in store for her, Hook couldn't help but worry if she would be the first to expand the demon's tastes. Better to try and fathom a different reason why the demonic tyrant would have need of her, but best not to get involved at all. Hook would use her to force Pan's hand, to get that which he so desperately needed, and then leave this cursed, time forsaking land. He had his own monster to slay, though Hook was no white knight hero by far. For all his fighting with Pan, Hook knew it was not by his hand that the demon would die, the pirate's show of resistance a token at best.

All this turmoil churning inside him took only seconds to think, Hook forcing himself away from the girl, but not from the memory lingering that whispered softly on how soft her cheek's skin had felt. His fingers rubbed together as though chasing after the feel, Hook trying not to frown at her while she made him the focus of her intense stare.

That beautiful green that one could lose their soul to, was on him, her eyes wide like saucers. He had startled her, but her looking had more reason behind it then that. She was studying him, the look in her eyes one of fascination. Hook found himself standing taller, letting the sun light him from behind. Of all his crew, he was the most handsome, the one most likely to charm females, both big and small. With his rugged beauty, the dark hair, and piercing blue eyes, Hook's been both scorned and desired, and more than one has claimed his brand of handsome to be otherworldly.

His looks hardly suited for the battlefield, Hook should have been born to the fat life of some rich aristocrat, or even a prince. Instead of the plundering, pillaging pirate that he actually was! Not even the silver hook that replaced his left hand could ruin the pretty picture he presented, even as it added a measure of menace to his appearance. The dark clothing helped, Hook dressing the part of the villain a pirate's life demanded he be.

Apparently it wasn't enough for the girl, her brows drawn together, her expression troubled as she exclaimed, "You don't look anything like a pirate!"

Hook quirked his eyebrows at her, not fighting a teasing smile. She didn't blush, and maintained her stare, her lips parting on a sigh. "And you be knowing just how many pirates in your young life?"

A rapid blink of her eyes, a not quite shuffle of her feet. "I don't know any pirates." She admitted with a frown. "But that doesn't change the fact that you look nothing like one!"

"And you don't look like any of the lost ones I've ever seen." Hook countered with an attempt to maneuver the conversation into finding out more about the girl. "But that doesn't stop the fact that you exist, and that you are here..."

"Yes, but that's..."

"But that's what?" Hook's sharp demand took over at the girl's silence. She didn't cringe or flinch, merely gave him a defiant gaze.

"What do you really want with Peter?" A question asked instead of answered.

"Pan has something I require."

"And that is?"

Hook smiled anew. "That is best kept between Pan and me."

"Well you won't get it." Her eyes flashed with challenge. "No matter what you may do to me, Peter will never give you what you want!" Tense with bravado that surely was false in part, she stood with her hands on her hips. "So you might as well save yourself a whole lot of trouble and let me go now!"

"Let you go?" Hook frowned as though puzzled. "Dear girl, you are free to leave at anytime." The look she gave him was one of doubt, her eyes then flashing pointedly in Smee's direction.

"Step aside Smee." Hook ordered, and it took a second for the older man to realize he had been given an order. It took Smee even longer to remember to close his mouth, the older man having stood there all this time, staring in slack jawed wonder at the girl.

The girl didn't immediately bolt for the door, inching instead around Hook, so that never did she show him her back. Smee looked worried, a questioning look shot his captain's way. Hook did the slightest shake of his head, Smee's worry only increasing.

Free of the cabin, the girl rushed to railing, peering at the island in the distance. Hook sauntered in her direction at a leisurely pace, then caged her in with his arms, the girl trapped between him and the railing.

"Is there a problem, princess?" He asked with a soft whisper of a tone. Hook didn't miss her shiver, or how the breeze caressed playfully through her hair, the blonde color catching the sun, transforming it into pirate's gold. And like all gold, Hook had to resist the urge to reach out and claim it.

"Damn you." Is what she first said, in answer to his inquiring tone. "You knew I wouldn't be able to fly."

Hook smirked at her back. "You're not the first lost one who found it difficult to retain the pixie's gift in my presence."

Her grip on the railing tightened, knuckles bleeding out of their color, so that only white remained. It bothered her, the idea that something, be it Hook or the situation, or maybe even both, had scared her that much.

"You've been very brave." Hook continued, the need to soothe her rising up and surprising them both. "Even Pan himself wouldn't be able to find fault with how you conducted yourself today."

His words didn't comfort her. "Except for the fact I broke one of his only rules." She grumbled softly. "But I couldn't let you kill Galen!"

"Kill?" Hook couldn't help but snort in derision. "I may be a pirate, but even pirates don't stoop so low as to kill a child."

She turned, putting her back to the railing. "That's not what Peter says."

"Pan lies about many things, especially where pirates are concerned."

"Peter is incapable of telling a lie!" She protested.

"There's few things Pan is incapable of, and lying is not one of them." Hook's retort had her bristling with anger, the girl shoving at his chest with her hands. Hook grabbed at her arm for balance, stumbling back a step and taking her with him.

"You! You're the liar! You wicked, vicious pirate!" She shouted. "Peter is good, and kind, and everything you're not!"

She shoved again at him, starting to thrash about in an attempt to pull away. Hook kept careful hold on her, not trusting the way her eyes darted wildly about. As though she was seeking some escape, or worse yet a weapon, and his sword was laying somewhere on deck from when he had thrown it earlier.

The girl continued shouting, things about Pan's goodness, and how wicked a man a pirate like Hook had to be. Hook stilled the worst of her motions by grasping hold of both her thin wrists in his much larger hand. Hook went so far as to loom over her, actually opened his mouth to tell her the truth about Pan, only to stop at the last second. Because what was the point in dashing the illusion, in stripping the wool from her eyes. Pan would do what he always did, and the girl would not be better off knowing the fate that was in store for her, for all of the lost ones.

Telling himself it was better for her, for them all, if the little blonde continued to believe Pan's lies, Hook still felt like a wretch at keeping quiet. Even with knowing that only misery and terror lied in wait should the girl know the truth, and BECAUSE he knew that, Hook set out to protect her in the only way he could. He'd maintain Pan's lie, let the girl believe she had been brought to a child's dreamland, and not the nightmarish hell of the demon's reality.

It still left a foul taste in his mouth, but his upset had little to do with Pan's deception. Bothersome as it was, Hook was wishing he could do more for the girl, for all the lost ones that had been spirited away to Neverland. But how many times could he involve himself with their problems, only to watch as time and time again Pan made a mockery of his efforts, and made the feeding even more sick and depraved as both a punishment and a reminder for Hook to not interfere in this?

Telling himself it was a lost cause, didn't stop Hook from wishing it was different. From wishing he had the strength and energy to kill more than one monster in his lifetime. But it was going to take everything he didn't yet have, and Hook wasn't willing to die at Pan's hand so long as Rumplestiltskin remained alive. It made him rationalize, made him reason his revenge was all that mattered. Despite all he told himself, and because of soulful green eyes, Hook was left feeling like the liar, the no good, wicked and vicious pirate Pan claimed him to be. It wasn't a feeling Hook liked, but he liked even less investing in lost causes. And that was exactly what the girl was, something Hook would need all his strength to remember.

To Be Continued...

Not sure how I feel about this chapter. It gave me a lot of trouble, to the point I felt stuck. X_X I hate when I have all these plans, and get stuck on advancing the story, getting it to the point I can work in my plans. X_X Also had a bit of a headache around the middle of this.

To Be Continued...

-Michelle

Guest. thanks! Yes I liked that she resorted to fighting dirty, and I bet Hook likes it too, so long as she not kicking him where it hurts! XD

Zerousy, thanks hon! And I'll keep quiet about how Pan feeds off the lost boys, though I have a few images in mind. :O Heh...she won't be able to get away so easily since she's literally been grounded, and Tinkerbelle is off with Peter hunting down the latest of the lost boys to go awol! Which puts Hook and Emma in close proximity for the foreseeable future, something Hook would be against, cause he doesn't want to get attached to the little blonde. Poor dear doesn't want to watch another person he cares about be killed. *pets Hook's lovely dark hair*

Guest, um well I did have some world building to do. Setting up the scenario, that sort of thing. or does slow build up mean something else? Thanks by the way!

Guest (I got a lot of guests this time! XD) thanks, though the wait couldn't be helped. Hope it doesn't keep happening for this fic. X_X

Guest, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed his POV. I'm also considering to do a sinister Peter Pan POV but MUCH later in the fic. Like an interlude or something. We'll see how it goes. Actually I'm sort of tempted to do really short interludes of Pan's POV, and sprinkle them in between the Hook Emma chapters, but then again, I like maybe keeping it that stuff gets revealed through Hook's thoughts, and Emma as she learns the truth.

Guest, aw thanks! Hope it stays interesting for you!

KendraCs, an almost kiss kinky? Hardly...and you just might be making assumptions about who tries for the kiss. XD Though I'm not saying either way, cause I am gonna avoid any more spoilers. As for Hook Emma, I was going for he saw her, but only a brief impression before she got him right where it hurts most. And then for most of the last chapter, her back was to him, or she was always fighting and twisting about, so it was this chapter he got to really see her, and realize what a stunner she'll be. XD Thanks by the way! Haven't actually said Peter is doing the cannibalistic eating, but haven't denied it either. :P


	6. Chapter 6

Emma knew she wasn't acting like herself. The calm center she had found amidst the wonders of Neverland, the level head, the practical manner, all had fled her now. Leaving behind anger's hostility, spiking fear, and a need that felt irrational and yet perfectly sensible all at once. It left Emma lashing out against something she didn't understand. Something that made the pirate the perfect focus for her rage, Emma rightfully blaming him for the feelings that were unsettling inside her.

He made her angry, he made her scared. Hook transformed Emma into a girl that was irrational, irritable, and quick to give over to an angry kind of panic. The tantrums were the result of that panic, Emma unable to stop herself from reacting. It wasn't who she wanted to be, and it felt as big a defeat as if she had cried, her tumultuous feelings breaking Tinkerbelle's spell, and grounding her in reality.

Only the very ground seemed to be slipping away from her, Emma feeling as though she was falling, faster and faster, and she wasn't going to stop, her only anchor that of Hook's hand around both her wrists. The irony wasn't lost on her, Emma aware that all of her off balance feelings had started because of this man. Because of who he was, because of where she was, because of what he had said, what he had done, and most of all because of how he looked.

The prettiest man a young Emma Swan had ever seen, something inside her had begun to react, Captain Hook affecting her in a way no male before him ever had. Emma Swan didn't have much experience with handsome men, the foster fathers she had known in her life, creepy or old or both, so abusive and predatory she hadn't been able to see past their worrisome intentions.

The boys of those families, brothers in name alone, hadn't been much better. Foul of heart, cruel of nature, Emma had found it hard to look past the despicable acts they had committed, to appreciate if any had been cute in appearance. They had seem like bullying dogs to her, mean, vicious enough to bite and tear into any who came near. She had been scared of them as much as she had the older men, and had done her best to stay away from both.

It hadn't been until Peter had brought her to Neverland that Emma had started to let down her considerable guard. Among her family, the lost boys, Emma had learned that there was more than hurt to be found at a male's hand. Emma had discovered kindness, and caring, had learn what to meant to have the love of a sibling and to return that love ten fold, in an unconditional display that hurt no one, least of all her.

Learning to trust the lost boys, to accept them as her real family, Emma had finally known the safety and comfort she had wished for. And now that safety and comfort was dashed, her idyllic life threatened, the man Hook a danger to her in a way she hadn't considered, hadn't thought possible. Because she had been dazzled, one clear look into his face bringing young Emma Swan careening reluctantly into awareness.

She hadn't had that kind of awareness with Peter, or with any of the older of her band of brothers. She hadn't felt it among the Indians, and none of the dwarves had inspired it either. Even the elven men with their own brand of white haired handsome, hadn't been enough to kick start it into happening. But now it had begun, and it wasn't going to go away, the beating of her awakening heart sounding very much like the tick of time starting.

Was it any wonder she fought tooth and nail against it, against him? Why panic filled her, why resentment colored her eyes, even as her traitorous heart thrilled at being in close proximity to him? To the man, the infamous Captain Hook, who took her tantrum and outbursts all in good stride, easily restraining her, never actually hitting her, never so much as letting his hand grab at her breasts. Behaving more like a gentleman than a pirate, Emma wanted to hate him, not only begged for a reason, but acted out in the hopes of getting it.

Hook never turned violent, instead simply holding her. His arms around her were strong, felt like unbendable steel. With no hope for a teen girl to ever come close to breaking free, Emma still struggled, rebelling out of fright and confusion. It left her tired and panting, the air embarrassingly wheezing out of her. She allowed herself to sag just a little, once again conceding to his strength, to the defeat he dealt her so effortlessly. If he had gloated, or mocked her weakness, Emma thought then she might have mustered up some true hate, but Hook did neither of those things.

"Smee, some water for the young lady."

"Yes, Captain!" Smee scurried off, and within a few minutes, returned with a tall glass of water. Such was Emma's exhaustion, that she didn't refuse the drink, didn't even contemplate throwing it in either of the two pirate's faces. Instead she began to gulp it down, greedy for the cool refreshing taste, and the quenching of her thirst it promised.

"Easy there..." The pleasantly accented voice in her ear held Hook's amusement. To glower at him, Emma would have had to twist in his hold, and her exhaustion was such that it seemed more work than it was worth it to give him that glare.

Already aware of how easily he mastered her, Emma saw no reason to be difficult where the drink was concerned. After all, what use to her was a petty victory that would avail her nothing where Hook was concerned? Her drinking slowed, no longer so grasping and wild. Emma wished the storm of emotions inside her would be half as calm, but there was no taming her feelings, or the inexplicable delight she privately took to hear Hook praise her.

"That's a good girl."

The older man Smee, was watching her, his careful attention on the glass she held. It was clear he didn't trust her, that the sight of the glass in her hands made him uneasy. She met his eyes with a glare, and slowly curled her lips. It unsettled the man further, Smee looking like he would leap forward to wrestle the near empty glass from her hands.

Hook stopped the debacle from happening. "Smee, see about putting together a quick meal. The little lady and I will be taking a late lunch in the captain's cabin."

Smee pursed his lips together like he had tasted something sour. "I wouldn't feel right, leaving you two alone for that long."

"Smee." A million stern warnings in that one word.

"At least wait until the rest of the crew returns to Jolly Roger." begged Smee. "Then Mason or Raoul can stand watch."

"To chaperone, you mean?" Emma didn't imagine the annoyed edge in Hook's tone of voice.

"To guard your back from her." Smee answered quickly, shooting another wary look at Emma. She glared back at him, then turned astonished to hear the captain's hearty laugh. A laugh that made her stomach flip flop, the unfettered joy in it, along with the low husky sound of it, making Emma feel strange and light headed. Even as a part of her bristled at his amusement, Emma not liking that Hook did not take her threat seriously.

Smee didn't like it either, almost whining as he pleaded. "I don't trust her captain. She'd sooner stab you with the cutlery than eat with it!"

"The thought had crossed my mind." Emma announced with wry derision in her voice. "But since killing your captain when I have no way off this ship is not the wisest of courses, I shall refrain for one meal."

The low chuckle of the captain was heard, the husky sound vibrating along nerve endings, Emma fighting back a shiver while Smee sputtered in barely contained outrage. "The little minx has no shame, admitting to such a thing!"

"Our princess is merely having a laugh at your expense, Smee."

"Are you so sure of that?" Emma demanded, turning to risk a look into Captain Hook's face. She immediately regretted it, their eyes meeting, and it was not the ship that was responsible for the swaying beneath her feet. Hook held her upright, and did nothing to betray her unsteady stance to Smee. Emma blinked several times before glaring, refusing to give him gratitude for his help with a condition he had caused.

"Are you really that blood thirsty, my dear?" Hook asked her, as if nothing strange had happened. Maybe for him it hadn't, but for Emma the world was starting to shatter, leaving her to fear what she would find in it's remains.

"Cross me and see." Is what she managed to say out loud. Emma lost the ability to breathe the moment Hook smiled in reply, the amused light seeping into his eyes, almost but not quite chasing the deeper shadows away. The shadows were haunting, hinting at a past, their presence a part of the pirate, a defining essence that had shaped him. For all Hook's ready laughter and smiles, Emma came away with the distinct feeling that this man didn't truly know happiness.

"What a fierce pirate you'd make, princess." Hook spoke as though that was the utmost in compliments, and perhaps it was to his kind.

"Pirate or princess, I would be neither."

"Then what shall I call you?" asked Hook, the question startling Emma into realizing for all that had happened, the pirate did not know her name. "If not princess, then what? Pan's treasure?"

She frowned at him. "I am not anyone treasure."

An odd look in his eyes, as though Hook would protest that point. "Pan certainly guards you like a treasure."

"And what would you know of that?" Emma demanded.

"He's been careful, so careful." Hook answered. "Keeping your very existence a secret from me and my pirates. I can't help but wonder why..."

"Do you make it a habit of knowing of every single one of his lost boys?" countered Emma.

"I may not know them all by name, but I make it my business to know what Pan is up to."

She frowned at him. "Peter is not up to anything. It's you pirates who plot and scheme."

"So we do." Hook muttered in agreement. "Your name now, sweet child?"

Her lips were holding the threat of a pout, Emma feeling sullen to give up this piece of her. "Emma." It whispered out of her. "Emma Swan."

"A fine name for a spirited little lady." Hook at last stepped back from her, sweeping his arm out theatrically before bowing over it. "And I am Killian Jones, otherwise known as Hook for reasons I am sure you can guess."

Never been bowed to before, Emma was even more surprised when Hook offered her his arm. As though she really was a little lady, or some fine princess come to dine with a king. Uncertain, Emma allowed Hook to tuck her arm around his, the pirate escorting her to his cabin. The cabin she had wrecked, the results of her tantrum and wild scrabble to break out, everywhere, Emma feeling a guilty unease to see it now.

Things were smashed on the floor, Emma having swept through the room like the wind itself, a maelstrom of anger. A chair was overturned, gauzy silk curtains ripped aside to discover the window itself was too small for her to fit through, even if she could have flown. There was beads everywhere, a whole hanging wall of them having separated the smaller half of the room.

With most of the beads scattered, Emma could easily see the bed that Hook must sleep in, her face filling with flustered warmth just to imagine him a top it. It wasn't the only reason for her blush, Emma embarrassed now at how thorough she had been, in wrecking his room. Even the pillows hadn't been left alone, Emma having thrown them to the floor, searching under them for the dagger she had been sure the pirate would have insisted on keeping close to him while he slept.

As if she hadn't been angry enough, to not find the imagined dagger had thrown her into a tizzy, and more than a few feathers had flown. As did just about anything not nailed down, breakable or otherwise, and she couldn't imagine Hook not canceling the lunch to beat her instead.

Shame faced and knowing she had earned his violent wrath, Emma was STILL defiant as she glanced towards him. Hook was still taking in the extent of her tantrum's damage, Emma trying not to fidget besides him as she slipped her arm free of his.

"No wonder Smee is upset." Hook finally spoke. "You've doubled, maybe tripled his workload!" The amused light was back in his eyes, a smile on his lips. Emma blinked in surprise, startled enough to forget to glare.

"You...you are not mad?" She ventured, hating the partial stammer that had betrayed her nerves.

"It is not I who will be responsible for putting this room back to normal." Hook replied. But Emma couldn't trust this, challenging him.

"Surely...you have more to say then that!"

"Calm your fears, child. It is not you who my anger turns to."

Emma was tense enough, that she forgot to protest, to insist she wasn't afraid. "Then to who?" She wanted to know.

"To myself." His answer surprised her. "It was I who had forgotten just how strongly fierce a lady's temper could be when roused." He was still smiling, but his eyes looked sadder somehow. "You're not the first to have destroyed this room in a fit of anger, although I can't say they acted out of the desire to escape from here."

Emma could believe that, having the strong suspicion that not many women would fight to leave the captain's room, not when he looked as pretty as Hook did. And then the embarrassed heat was stronger, Emma doubly glad Hook couldn't possibly be privy to her private thoughts.

"Of course, now that I've been reminded, and you yourself sorry, it won't be happening again, will it?" inquired Hook.

Outrage flared, more to do with her embarrassment than his words. "Who says I am sorry?!"

"If not sorry, then what?" In response, Emma chewed at her lip, attempting to look away. The blunt curve of his hook under her chin, drew her gaze back to the pirate, the man studying her with intent so focused, it brought her miserably reacting.

"Ah..." Understanding had dawned in Hook's eyes. An understanding Emma feared saw inside her, to the heart she heserlf wasn't understanding, to the confusing feelings that were all a flutter in turmoil. "What stories Pan must have told you! To fear I would beat you..."

"Or worse." Emma managed to whisper, before realizing she had to maintain being brave. She made herself stand taller, refusing to cower.

"What could be worse than a beating to a child?"

Hook's musing question, had Emma answering in a hoarse tone of voice. "I can think of more than a few things..."

Frowning, Hook gazed deep into her eyes, and whatever he saw there, disturbed even him. "Yes, yes I dare say you can." His blue had darkened ominously, the menacing anger there promising to roll the very sea the Jolly Roger lay anchored in. "If Pan..."

"Peter?" Emma interrupted in surprise. "Peter has been nothing but kind to me. To all of us." She was aghast at the very idea that Hook would misunderstand enough to think Peter Pan was responsible for the hurt and knowledge Emma had. The knowledge of just how cruel and evilly inventive an adult could be where children were concerned. "Peter could never do such things." She added out loud, not understanding why Hook's anger did not calm, why he seemed almost bitter as he spoke. As though the words were foul and poisoning him to speak.

"Of course. Pan would never hurt a child." Now Hook was the one turning away, walking over to the center of the room. A table was there, with several chairs, one of which she had managed to knock over. Hook righted the overturned chair, then patted it's back in an open gesture for Emma to come sit.

Seeing no reason not to, Emma cautiously approached. Nothing seemed to happen, not until after she sat, and his hand pressed down on her shoulder, in a restraining grip meant to keep her from fleeing.

"If not Pan, then who?" Hook demanded, and Emma really would have ran. From the steel menace in his voice, the question hinting at pain and retribution that would be dealt out to whomever Emma named. Which was ridiculous, Hook had no reason to want to play champion to a girl, one he had just met and who was by all rights his enemy.

Ridiculous and absolutely pointless, because her tormentors were long dead, Emma realizing she was getting caught up in what had to be a trick of the pirates, the man trying to ingratiate himself by playing outraged and concerned.

"It doesn't matter." Emma noted his hand didn't relax, still tense and pressuring against her shoulder. "It happened a lifetime ago."

She felt the hesitation, and then Hook was lifting his hand. "Of course." He muttered, then began to pace away from her. She shifted in her seat, turning to watch Hook move about the room. He had said the mess was Smee's to fix, but Hook was fiddling about, picking up some of the books and trinkets she had knocked to the beautiful carpets on the floor.

As he did this, that powerful, rolling upset seemed to leave him, Hook becoming calm and composed once more. If it was all an act, it was a very convincing one, and Emma hated that she wanted to believe that Hook could care about her for even a second. But any concern he truly had, was in her value as a hostage or as trap against Peter, Hook ready to lie, to manipulate, in order to get his revenge on the eternal child.

Hiding a frown, Emma vowed to be on guard. To not let Hook play her false, or fool her into trusting him. His brand of handsome had thrown her, had made her foolish. Even as she was uneasy by it, by her reaction to his looks, actually letting it distract her and make her forget what Peter had told her. Hook was wicked, a ruthless pirate, willing to do just about anything, use anyone, for his own goals. He was cut from the same cloth as those adults she had known, the inventively cruel, sadistic, EVIL men and women who hurt and used any child in their reach.

Firming her fists in her lap, Emma forced herself to look away from Hook. Anger was rising, Emma upset at how she had let him play her thus far. That anger crashed with an unspoken yearning, Emma struggling for calm in the face of the volatile turmoil inside her, the wanting conflicting with what she assumed she knew to be fact. A voice whispered to her, telling her that Peter had got it wrong, that she had got it wrong. Captain Hook was not what Emma had been taught to expect, he was WORSE. And something she was beginning to think as her traitorous, easily tricked heart, didn't seem to care!

Emma knew she was in trouble. Had known it from the moment she had looked into Hook's face, and felt the awakening of feelings inside her. Peter's warnings now didn't just make sense, they felt lacking, as though he hadn't prepared her enough for this encounter. But then could anything have prepared her for the reality that was Captain Hook, could anything have kept her from his notice, and he hers? Emma couldn't say, didn't even have a name for the trouble she had sensed. But her heart kept on beating, stronger now and in rhythm with the ticking of time's approach.

To Be Continued...

So after I reread five, I ended up REALLY liking it. I like this chapter six too, though not half as much as I ended up liking chapter five. XD I worry about six's ending paragraph that it got a little rambly or something. Now I'm debating on whose POV will get chapter seven, though most likely it will be a Hook POV.

Darn, now I feel sleepy when I shouldn't be tired. X_X

-Michelle

Soulphur, thank you. I'm so happy to hear that! :D Hmmm...I haven't imagined an actual number for Hook, aside from the 300 he's been in Neverland. In my head I've been imagining him just like in the show, so yeah...he's that age. *dies from the crappy answer*

Victoriam Nox, thank you! :D Not much of a music listener myself, so it hadn't occurred to me to try and draw a title name from a song. *blushes* Thanks for the title suggestion by the way, I like it...though I'm still on the fence on what to make the official name of the story. Truthfully I've been so focused on the actual writing, and the planning, that I haven't worried much yet about the lack of a title. I have toyed with the words innocent and seduction though...though I worry most people would assume the seducing has solely to do with Hook and not with the fact Peter has seduced Emma with the lie of Neverland.

Guest, aw thanks for the vote of confidence. :D I hope I live up to the something incredible part!

Guest, you're welcome and thanks! *beaming*

Zerousy, I'm so grinning cause I love you reaction to five! Thank you so much, not just for loving the chapter but the reassurances on Hook's behavior. :D Yes, developing but not yet at her full womanly glory in regard to her body. XD I also appreciate your own insights into his thoughts and behavior. The gentleman line makes me grin more, cause I was using that word in this chapter just before I got your review in my email box!

Angelfan984, hmm for a while still. I have things planned out, though the interactions of Emma with Hook and his crew aren't as planned out/set in stone as the events I am trying to build towards. So it's anyone's guess how many chapters it'll take...it feels like a long road to travel now. ^^;;


	7. Chapter 7

Busying himself about the room, Hook was oblivious to the young girl's own discomfort. To the feelings that upset her, the unwanted awareness that lingered inside her even when she was caught miserly anticipating a beating or worse. No, Hook was numb the girl's turmoil, to the effort it took her for Emma not to sit and openly stare at him. Vaguely at best, Hook just might have noticed how she fidgeted, how she played with her hands, unsure of where to leave them. How they remained one second at her side on the chair's arm rest, only to clasp them together to lay on her lap. To then end up on the table, Emma having noticed the carvings in the wood.

Her fingers traced over those carving, to the names engraved there. Wordlessly she lingered over the slashes over Hook's own name, but her questions never came. She didn't ask about it, or about the name Mila, and for that Hook should have been relieved. Because the girl avoided ripping open a wound that had never healed, a wound that's bandage was frayed, Hook unable to leave it alone for good.

It was that wound of his heart being crushed, of his loss, that had brought Hook to Neverland. That had bid him to stay. Searching endlessly on the hopes of some key piece of information, or a weapon of some kind, that would allow him to slay his own demon. Rumplestiltskin gave life to that which haunted him, the torment and grief, and most of all the driving need for revenge. A revenge he had lingered on the cusp of achieving, endlessly waiting the last two hundred years for the Indian Shamaness words to come true, for that which Hook needed, to end up in his hand.

But it hasn't happened yet. Pan as miserly with the item as he was bloated on lost boys and whatever it was that let Neverland's demon grow more powerful by the day. Already near invincible, Pan only grew harder and harder to kill, the more children he consumed. And with every soul lost, Hook felt his chance of getting what he needed from Pan, slipping through his fingers. Leaving him wondering if he would ever have it, ever even come close to knowing what that something was.

Obsessed as he was with finding and having the thing the Indian Shameness had spoke of, it wasn't the reason behind Hook's disturb feelings on this day. Revenge was nearly pushed from his mind, Hook more concerned with the girl, with what might have been done to her, what might still be done, but also with the memories she stirred. Because young Emma Swan wasn't the first of the lost ones to be a guest on his ship, more boys then Hook cared to count having come to him, either in desperation, or in the case of one young Owen, out of sheer fascination.

Hook couldn't help but remember that bright eyed boy of ten, and how the Jolly Roger crew, had found him stowed away among goods they had bartered for from the Indians native to Neverland. Young Owen had been more excited than scared, Hook and his pirates tolerant, perhaps even amused by the boy's antics. He wasn't the first to stow away on a pirate's ship, and Hook knew how to deal with those who did. After all it was practically a tradition to force stowaways to be part of the crew, many of those on board the Jolly Roger having been introduced to piracy that way. Hook included!

And young Owen had been ecstatic to be made one of the crew, even if all he had really been was a cabin boy. Owen hadn't been able to differentiate between servant and pirate, and he had taken to his chores with an enthusiasm never before seen. Complaining little, learning slowly the pirates' way of life, Owen had seemed to thrive and no one had wondered at the damage they might be doing. The risks they were posing the boy, their behavior and crude talk affecting him.

Of course the pirates couldn't be completely sure they were at fault. It could have been Owen's long unfulfilled desire that was responsible for the changes that came to the boy. It might have even been a factor of both, Owen growing, until less than a week later, he was abruptly boy no more.

The boy had barely survived startling Mason, the tattooed pirate putting him to the sword. The lanky young man the boy had become, had been near unrecognizable except for his brightly colored eyes. And even then, Hook and his pirates hadn't been able to believe it, had barely begun to process what had happened, when a shadow came looming overhead.

The first time Hook actually saw Pan up close, was during the demon's most vicious behavior. Morphing into a creature more terrifying than the seemingly friendly boy he usually paraded as, Owen hadn't even lasted an hour as an adult. With a blood red smile, and things best left unidentified dripping off his claws, Pan had introduced himself, and thanked Hook for harboring his meal.

The violence that had been committed, had been savage, and an uncomfortable reminder of Hook's own past. He'd never get used to seeing someone's heart in Pan's hand, never be able to not flash back to the moment Mila's own had been crushed by Rumplestiltskin's fist. And every time, remembering his pain, Hook flew into a rage to fight the unstoppable demons of his past and present.

For all his anger, for all his skill with a sword, Hook couldn't come close to killing those monsters. Couldn't even hope to vanquish them through mortal means. None of his pirates could, though those that remained a part of the Jolly Roger's crew, never gave up trying. But every loss was painful, every boy just another Owen who had finally been triggered to grow up for whatever reason. There was a reason the children brought to Neverland were known as the lost ones, and it had nothing to do with the fact they had been spirited away from their homes and everything to do with the fact that nothing, that no one, could save them from Pan.

It was a lesson hard learned. A lesson that was repeated for far too many times, other boys running from Pan, coming to the pirates out of sheer desperation, or even by mere chance. Most times Hook seemed the lesser evil, the boys frightened and placing their hopes in the pirate's hand. He failed them every time, saw them die with resentment in their eyes, their own features distorted in excruciating pain.

Most times Pan made quick work of his meal. But sometimes the newly grown boys escaped, surviving long enough to search for help. Being hunted at Pan's leisure, the demon not at all worried that his prey would escape. Hook didn't know how many had died since he had first come to Neverland. The lost boys' numbers changed too often, too many falling prey to Pan before they could so much as scream, let alone run. Always learning too late that they had placed their trust in a monster's hands.

But Pan wasn't the only monster out there. Sometimes the monsters were even closer. Sometimes the monsters were your own kind, your family, your guardians, your supposed friends. The people meant to protect you, who instead hurt you. Hook knew Pan was the worst kind, but sometimes the cruelty of humans rivaled the demon's. Because Hook had seen things, heard tales, fought on the behalf of those who couldn't defend themselves. Women and children, Hook couldn't abhor violence and abuse of any kind done to them, was quick to fly into a rage and make the bulliying one a victim of his hook. Just like he wanted to do now, Hook wanting a throat before him he could strangle, a body he could sink his hook into. Because he had seen the look in young Emma's eyes, had heard the pain in her voice, as she had told him she could think of worse things than a beating being done to a child.

It sickened and infuriated him, the thought of this girl being subjected to the far too many possibilities of human abuse. To the disgustingly inventive way a person's cruelty could be. His mind wanted to go down dark paths, Hook forcing himself to stay out of the shadows, to not ruminate too long on just what could have been done that would have been worse than a beating to this girl. Because there was far too many things, and Hook didn't think he could kill enough people to calm down, or absolve himself of his own crimes against the girl. Because wasn't he in fact as guilty as Pan, for failing to protect Emma and her lost boy brothers, for not even wanting to try because it always ended with Hook's heart breaking just a little more?

But disturbingly, his heart was already hurting, pained by the idea of the little blonde being eaten by Pan. Protesting the deception Hook was committing, even as the pirate knew it was better for the girl to keep on believing Pan's lies, if only to give her some peace of mind and maintain the illusion that she was finally somewhere safe. But believing he was doing the right thing, was harder then it first appeared, and sometimes Hook wondered if he'd ever be able to leave Neverland so long as Pan was free to steal and eat more children. And that was before Pan had started preying on girls!

Hook couldn't even imagine why Pan would have decided to try something new now. Had his tastes finally expanded, or had he finally gain enough tolerance to negate whatever his long maintained aversion to eating females had been? Hook couldn't figure it out, couldn't imagine that Emma was anything special to the demon. He kept coming back to the monster's feeding habits, almost convinced this was a sign that Pan had tired of boys.

Not knowing nearly enough to truly play Pan, Hook realized Emma might not even be that good a bargaining chip to use as leverage to get what he wanted. But he would try all the same, and feel like a complete and utter bastard for hurting the girl. For being just another one to use and abuse her, because in handing her over to Pan, Hook would become just as rotten and ruthless as all the others that had hurt Emma, and children like her in the world.

Was it any wonder Hook was in hell, tormented and disturbed by the thoughts he was having. Thoughts he tried to distract himself from, thoughts he couldn't truly justify even with the knowledge that there was nothing he, that anyone could do. Pan would do as he like, and Emma and the other lost ones would die. And Hook would grow closer to losing his mind, tormented by guilt, by his helplessness, damned no matter what he did, be it stand and fight,or sit back and do nothing.

It was the worst position to be put in, the worst decisions to have to be made. Even once-if he left Neverland, Hook would never be able to forget the lost ones, haunted by Owen and Emma, and all the ones in between.

Better to be the unfeeling bastard, to not care about anyone, then to go through this pain again and again. But Hook didn't know how to stop, couldn't shut off his heart, no matter how broken it was. That broken heart made him stupid, told him to do things Hook should never even consider. Told him to forget his revenge on Rumplestiltskin, make a stand against Pan, rather than barter Emma away on the off chance the demon would finally give Hook what he so desperately needed. A need he wasn't always sure of, the madness of what went on in Neverland affecting Hook, making him doubt what his true path was, if revenge was even worth it.

And then Emma was noticeably flinching, Hook having slammed a book down too hard in response to his last thought. He realized the girl had been watching him, that try as she might to pretend a lack of interest, she had been quietly aware of Hook's every move. His chaotic energy, his turmoil had agitated her in return, the girl on the edge of her seat as though preparing to flee at the first sign of trouble. Hook nearly laughed then, a bitter angry guffaw, because the girl SHOULD run. Should get as far away from him and Neverland as she could, and even that wouldn't be far enough, Pan able to fly just about anywhere.

Darkly wondering what thoughts made Pan happy, Hook kept his hand on the book, trying to compose himself, trying for a calm he was incapable of feeling. He was a better actor than Hook would have given himself credit for, the pirate turning to the girl and feigning a smile.

"So..." He said out loud, and Emma fixed her green gaze on him. "How exactly did you expect a pirate to look?"

It was clearly the last thing she had been expecting him to say, Emma's uncertain look heightened by the rapid blink of her eyes.

"Well?" Hook asked, watching as Emma tried to shake off her unease.

"Pirates are supposed to be bigger." She finally said. "With missing teeth, and a smell as rotten as their wicked hearts." She fidgeted in place, Hook arching an eyebrow in mocking reply. "With evil coloring your eyes, and blood of the many you've slaughtered dripping off your hook, it's said you're unable to differentiate between friend or foe, not even caring to try, your looks as ugly as your soul."

"Good grief, is that what Pan tells you?" Hook asked, and the girl merely shrugged in response. "And here I was expecting you to spout nonsense about peg legs and parrots." Again she just shrugged, Hook drawing his eyebrows together with his frown.

"You're supposed to have killed many of my brothers..."

"Supposed to?" Hook sharply emphasized the word, and a pang of some feeling, guilt perhaps, struck straight through to his damaged heart. He wasn't the one to have killed any of the lost boys, but he hadn't been able to save them either.

"Cut them up, or forced them over the plank. Turn them into chum for the sharks of the bay." Emma told him, her expression serious, solemn. Her eyes stared questioningly at him, as though searching for the truth that might write itself on his face. Hook couldn't stop grimacing, shaking his head no.

"If that is the kind of things Pan tells you, no wonder you are scared of me."

"I am not scared!" Emma immediately, empathetically denied. "I was just..." She nearly blushed, looking away. "Startled by you."

And yet they both knew the truth, Emma's inability to fly proof of the fear she had felt. The fear she might still have, Hook inwardly sighing, but not calling her out on it.

"Well you can see for yourself, my hook is dry." But as clean and polished as it was, blood had tarnished it and his hand more than once. "And I don't smell, or have any missing teeth. My eyes don't glow for evil, and while I can't claim my soul to be clean, I don't think it is ugly enough to destroy my looks."

Now she really did blush, the slightest tinge of pink on her cheeks as Emma quickly looked away from him. "Looks can be deceiving."

How well Hook knew, an image of Pan's true face flashing briefly to mind. "That they can be..." he murmured in agreement, to Emma's surprise. "Especially here in Neverland..."

"Not just Neverland..." She muttered, but did not elaborate, instead trying to shift the conversation to a new topic. "If Pan won't give you what you want...will...will you kill me?"

"No, it's not by my hook that you will come to harm."

"What of your crew?" Clever girl that she was, Emma wouldn't relax at his promises. "Will you order one of them to do it instead?"

"It's not my crew you have to fear." Hook snapped. "None of them would truly consider hurting a child...I'd kill THEM myself if they did."

Emma was frowning. "But you are supposed to be ruthless."

"I AM." Hook told her. "But I am not without mercy and compassion."

Her frown remained, and Hook could practically see her mind struggling with some concept. She'd still be thinking, when Smee entered through the open doorway, carrying a tray of the meal he had prepared. It was all sandwiches and finger foods, things you didn't need a fork or a knife for. Smee ever the worry wart, had seen to protecting his captain from the possible risk the girl posed, by eliminating the need for a meal's silverware.

Trying not to openly laugh at Smee's needless concern, Hook took a seat at the table. The girl was across from him, eyeing the sandwiches with a mix of suspicion and hunger.

"It's all right." Hook softly reassured her. "It's not poisoned."

"Not yet, you mean." Emma retorted. "You won't kill me until I am no longer of any use for you."

"The captain would never kill a child!" Smee snapped in outrage. "Not even a..."

"Smee!" A snap of his own, Hook interjecting before Smee could finish the insult. Smee glanced at him, but his expression was sullen, the man not appreciating the need to hold his tongue, especially when he found the girl to be needlessly insulting.

"It's all right." Hook then said. "Pan has filled her head with stories of my blood thirsty nature."

"Pan would do something like that." grumbled Smee.

Emma was studying the sandwiches with such open yearning, that Hook wondered when was the last time she had eaten. "Go on." He urged her, and took a big bite out of his own sandwich. She watched him do it, and slowly, hesitantly, reached for one of her own.

"It's good!" She exclaimed, and Smee put his hands on the hips.

"Of course it is! Nothing but the best for the captain!"

But Emma was too busy eating, almost ravenous in her actions. "Can't remember the last time I tasted something this good..." She muttered in between bites.

"Doesn't Pan feed you?"

"Oh he does, but none of my brothers are exactly known for their cooking skills." Emma said, with an exaggerated sigh. "Too often the meat they hunt is burnt, and tough to chew." She glanced at Smee, and gave a grudging acknowledgement. "You're good..."

Smee didn't smile, but he didn't frown either. "Someone has to be, to keep the captain and his crew well fed." He stepped away from the table, already intent on setting the room to rights. Hook knew without asking, that the older man was keeping aware of what was going on, alert not only to danger but to any need his captain might voice.

Normally enjoying being pandered to, there was time when Hook found Smee's doting to be annoying. Such time was now, Hook needing neither chaperone nor Smee's brand of protection from the girl. He didn't for one second believe the girl could get the best of him, that she could physically hurt him, though the pangs of his heart reminded him of how there were other ways Emma Swan could do damage. A damage Smee wouldn't be able to stop, no one would, so long as Hook allowed himself to care.

"Smee, the room can wait for another hour." Hook spoke a dismissal that left the other man protesting almost immediately. He fell quiet at his captain's glare, shoulders sagging just a little, as Hook told him to go out and wait the crew's return.

"Yes, captain." Smee muttered, glancing one last time at the girl. Hook knew without asking, that Smee's tongue would be wagging, informing the crew of the developments that had gone on in their absence, preparing them for the shock the girls' presence would otherwise have on the men.

Hook also trusted Smee to convey his wishes, to make his desires known. The men weren't to agitate the girl, to upset her without reason, and most of all she wasn't to be touched. Hook didn't think his men sick enough to lust over a child, but young Emma wasn't quite that. She was only a few years short of grown, and was pretty enough that men who had been starved of women for too long, might just entertain bad ideas. The fear of Hook's wrath would keep them in check, though he couldn't help but wonder how many would be eager to attempt to trigger the girl into growing up.

At best Emma's presence aboard the Jolly Roger was problematic. At worst it was disastrous, the girl in as much danger as she posed to hearts. Sad as it was, the sooner Pan came for her, the better off most would be. That might even include Emma, so long as she didn't grow up enough for Pan to eat her upon her return.

Such worries made Hook grimace into his drink, the man again wondering what was Pan's game. Wondering if Emma was more pawn than meal, everything Hook thought he knew, coming away wrong. Hook couldn't grasp what Pan's true intentions were with Emma, clung stubbornly to what he did know. Pan ate children, boys in particular, cultivating their growth carefully, to capitalize on the energy and nourishment received. An yet Emma was the unknown element, the very fact that Pan had kept her existence a secret from Hook and his pirates troubling him. Emma was the first girl Hook had ever known Pan to show interest in, and that was important. HOW it was important, Hook couldn't figure out, but it was his hopes that by talking with Emma, he could somehow pry out some of her and Pan's secrets.

How unfortunate for him that the girl was wary! She ate his food, but watched him with a guarded expression, keeping quiet about her own thoughts and feelings. Hook had a feeling it would take more than charm to coax an answer out of her, and in the hunt for her secrets, he risked forming protective urges even stronger than the ones already in place!

Again he hid a grimace into his drink, Hook both annoyed and yet grateful that Smee had seen to replacing his rum with something infinitely tamer. The apple cider was sweet, and had none of the kick of the rum, Hook needing all his senses to be able to deal with the girl.

She had already finished her sandwich, seeming to delight in trying the different offerings Smee had put on the tray. Hook couldn't begin to imagine existing on a diet of meals cooked by an inexperienced hand, let alone the kind of food a bunch of children would try to make for themselves!

"If you like, perhaps Smee can be persuaded to teach you a few secrets from his kitchen."

Green eyes gazed at him, the girl cautious. "Do you really think he would?"

"He would with pressure from me." Hook told her. "Of course..." A casual sip of his cider. "It all depends on how long a time you'll be with us. I imagine Pan will be here soon. To get his...girl back."

A frown before she nodded. "Peter WILL come for me."

"So it's just a matter of waiting." Hook said. "Though really, I'm surprised he let you come here without him."

"Peter doesn't LET me do anything." Emma retorted.

"But is he not the master of the lost boys?" Hook asked, feigning surprise.

"He's our leader yes, but that doesn't mean he's a tyrant. We're free to do as we like, mostly..."

"Mostly?" Hook seized on the word, and Emma bit at her lip like she had said something wrong.

"Well..there are SOME rules..." She reluctantly admitted. "We're not complete savages you know!"

Hook chuckled. "I would never go that far with such an insinuation. Though Pan lets his boys run so wild, that the idea of them having rules, let alone following them..."

"The rules are for our safety." Emma interrupted. "Peter makes sure to look out for us all."

"Yes he does keep a close eye on his group." agreed Hook with a nod. "Which begs the question, where was he when...I believe you said the boy's name was Galen?" She nodded. "Where was he when your Galen was in need of rescuing?"

Another bite of her lip, Emma fingers fidgeting enough to crumble apart the flaky crust in her hand.

"Normally Pan would have rushed into action..." Hook pointed out. "He wouldn't have sent a girl and such young boys to do his work for him."

"I'm perfectly capable to rescue someone!" Emma snapped, adorable even at her most furious. "I got Galen away from you, didn't I?"

"Galen IS Gone, but you've been caught in his place." Hook smiled. "And caught you will remain until Pan deigns to show up."

"That can't happen soon enough for my liking." Emma grumbled, sitting back in her chair.

That was something Hook had mixed feelings about, though his expression betrayed none of that to the girl. "I suppose the wait depends on Pan's whim?" A sly tone to his voice. "Or is it that the item I require will take time to locate?" He tried not to act too interested, hoping to lure her into revealing anything she might know.

"You will never get it." Was all Emma said.

"Then you know of it?" Hook leaned forward in his seat, his eyes intent on the little blonde. She frowned at him.

"Know of it? When I don't even know what IT is?"

Now Hook frowned. Damn Pan, and his secrets. Damn the Indian's shamaness too, for her cryptic words, and her overall inability to actually help Hook. What use would this something be, if Hook didn't know what it was, or what it looked like. How could he find it, and how could he trust anything Pan might give him, when Hook couldn't know for sure if that was the thing the shamaness had spoken of!

"Why do you want it?"

"I need it." Hook answered her. "If I'm going to kill a demon..."

"A demon?!" She squeaked out, her eyes going huge.

"A very dangerous and despicable one." Hook nodded. "It's in the best interest of many, for that demon to die."

"I..I didn't take you for the heroic type..."

"I'm not, Emma." Hook told her. "I am completely self serving, this demon having taken something from me."

"Something you mean to get back?" Emma asked, the green of her eyes alight with both interest and fright.

"Oh no." Hook's smile flattened into nothing. "The something the demon took from me, can never be brought back."

"Never?" Emma whispered, and Hook could just imagine how she was trying to figure out what could be so irreplaceable. But Hook didn't want to talk about Mila with Emma, didn't want to tell her of his lost, his grief. Didn't want to mention the hurt done to him, the torment he had suffered.

Instead, he leaned forward, their eyes locked on each other. "There are things that can happen, things that once done cannot be undone. They leave their mark on us, change who we are. They affect our present, our past, even our future. They scar us, and yes it hurts, but sometimes it makes us stronger..."

She seemed to shiver, most likely thinking of her own past, and whatever scars it had dealt out. "What...what did you lose to the demon?"

Never taking his eyes off of Emma, he brought his hook over his chest. "My heart." He was remembering Mila as he said it, remembering the love they had shared, and how he had felt as though it was his heart that had been crushed that day instead.

"Your heart?" She squeaked in alarm, practically jumping up out of the chair. Hook didn't rise with her, remaining seated instead. "Then you really are an unfeeling monster?!"

Feeling too much, that was the problem Hook faced. "I wouldn't go that far." Was the extent of the objection Hook raised.

"Then how far would you go?" Emma demanded.

"To get what I want?" Hook inquired in a mild tone. He was refilling his glass as Emma nodded. "As far as needed, stopping at nothing." His look was bitter then. "Some things we do because they are worth doing, and some forces drive us because of need. It's need that drives me, that compels me to go to any lengths to take from Pan the thing I need to slay my demon!"

"There must be a reason Peter won't give it to you then." Emma reasoned. "Some reason for you not to have it."

"That is not for him or for you to decide!" snapped Hook, the glass angrily thumping on top of the table. Emma flinched at that, but Hook couldn't temper his anger in the moment. "I've waited roughly two hundred years for it, and no one, not you, not Pan will keep me from it!"

They were glaring at each other, Emma looking just as fierce as Hook now felt. The time to coax out Pan's secrets had been lost, the girl worked up enough that she wouldn't feel comfortable in confiding in Hook any time soon. He had thoroughly botched the moment, letting his anger and resentments at the situation and of both Pan and Rumplestiltskin, make him speak in a way he shouldn't have. Forget about charming, he had been snarling at the girl, and her formidable guard was strengthening instead of weakening.

No closer to understanding anything where Emma Swan was concerned, Hook was left confused on whether or not it would be better for Pan to come for her sooner than later. His unsettled feelings grew stronger, Hook sure trouble was being courted the longer Emma Swan stayed on his ship.

To Be Continued...

Urgh. What a work out this chapter gave me. First I wrote roughly 11 KB, and realized it SUCKED. It felt very lackluster and rambly what I had written. So I trashed it, and started over. Luckily the starting over was just what I needed, and I ended up with the first 13 kb you saw. I'm very happy with that part. Then the conversation started, and it became an issue of the chapter that did not want to end. I had a real hard time to get to any thing that felt like a good ending point. Not sure I succeeded, and you can probably tell it didn't want to end, cause this is the longest chapter for this fic yet! About 30 KB in size, and normally my chapters are around 20/22 KB in size. I tend to consider anything under 18 KB short for me, and anything over 20 KB as long, but this went even longer than normal! XD

Even with the problem seven gave me, I still like this chapter. I hope you do too! 

-Michelle

Angelfan984, yes she is so fierce. :D Thank you, and yes you hit it on the nail. Heart and head not working together, AND she is learning he's not matching up to the stories she had heard. Oh boy, oh boy! XD

HookedOnCaptainSwan, thanks. Glad you do! I've got my work cut out for me, if I want things to go down the way I planned in regard to Emma softening to our fave pirate captain!

Zerousy, aw, you make me blush and my ego sure takes a shine to you! :D Thank you so much! Poor Emma, poor Hook, stuck between a rock and a hard place, she doesn't know, and he knows too much about what Pan does and he just feels so helpless to help. :O But I got plans...if I can get the fic to obey me. *cracks whip at it for trying to be all rambly and giving me chapters that don't want to end.*

One Shot At Life, oh thank you! Thank you so much! And I will certainly keep trying my best. :D


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn't a particularly violent motion, that of the slamming of the pirate's drinking glass on the table. But it was loud and sudden, the cider splashing over the glass' sides, and Emma just couldn't stop herself from flinching. Immediate was her response to that show of weakness, Emma narrowing her eyes into a glare at the pirate who wore a similar expression. But she wasn't angry with him. Not really. Not when it was she herself who had reacted, who had flinched with a fear that had been beaten into her.

Fear was weakness. And weakness was something she couldn't afford. Especially when dealing with an adult, a man who had just admitted to having no heart. A man who had claimed he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. In that moment, she believed him, Emma trying not to tremble, to not so much as shiver as she glared. Trying to stare him down as demons of her own reared up in her head.

Heartless beings whose features were muddled, more than a dozen each and interchangeable save for one. The one she fought hardest to not remember, Emma's hand unconsciously clenching into a fist as she remembered the sizzle of the cigar, and the smell of burning flesh. A concentrated pain that followed, Emma learning that there was things that hurt worse than a beating, and scarred one's soul for life.

It was those moments, even years later, with her tormentors long dead and buried, that left Emma shaking. Suppressing both the fear and the rage of being made helpless, Emma wondered if there would ever be a time when she would be truly free of her past. If she could ever forget what had happened, what had gone down around her, to be normal. She nearly laughed at that thought, because normal wasn't what she was, and normal didn't exactly fit into the life she now had.

It was a life she drew strength from, Emma composing herself. Drawing on happier memories, of times with the Lost Boys and Peter Pan. Of soaring through Neverland's skies, or dipping her toes into the lagoon while listening to the mermaids sing. Of unicorns and even mean old mister dragon, and rainbows and cartwheels, and leading her brothers into mock battle with the Indian braves. The more she thought about those things, the less angry and scared she felt, Emma standing taller, unclenching her fist as she looked at Captain Hook. He must have been doing similar as she had, because the pirate wasn't looking anywhere as angry as he had been a few minutes ago, though his blue eyes still blazed with the heat of his fierce emotions.

Emma couldn't help but study those eyes and the face they were set into. That handsome face that bordered on too pretty to be believed real. A masculine beauty she wasn't at all immune to, Emma was STILL shocked every time she looked directly at him. Because Hook was attractive to her, in ways a girl intent on not growing up should never have noticed. Leaving her holding her breath every time his lips gave so much as a mere hint of a smile, Emma wanting to brush her fingers over his lips, and feel the hairs on his chin to see if they were soft or bristly to the touch.

Fascinated by his looks alone, Emma couldn't help but also be impressed with his behavior towards her. He hadn't beat her for the mess she had made of his room, and even more astonishing, and just as important, he hadn't touched her in a wildly inappropriate way. And he had had ample opportunity to do so, given Emma had ended up in his arms when the pirate was trying to subdue her tantrums.

That he hadn't tried to touch her breasts or her ass was downright amazing. Emma couldn't ever remember being around an adult, male or otherwise, who hadn't tried to hurt her in some way. Yet Hook behaved himself, aside from the fact he was holding her prisoner, and he had even gone so far as to feed her!

He talked with her too, not condescending, or in a perverted manner. He had yet to put her down with insults, might even have been sincere in his concern for her. Emma didn't understand exactly why he would be like this, why he wouldn't be like every other grown up she had ever known. That worried her for different reasons, Emma sure there was some sort of trap he was setting, or angle the pirate was working. But she couldn't figure it out, not understanding what Hook would gain from being nice to her while waiting for Peter Pan's reply to his demands.

Emma was already sure Peter wouldn't give in to Hook's demands. He wouldn't trade away whatever it was that Hook thought Peter had. Nor would Peter be content to let the pirates keep Emma as their prisoner. There would be a rescue mounted, and Emma couldn't help but worry for fighting would surely break out. Her band of brothers could be hurt or worse, for Hook was self admittedly ruthless, and a pirate, and apparently heartless.

But was heartless such a bad thing? Emma wasn't so sure. The adults she had known, those wretches the foster system had dared deem suitable to be parents, had been cruel, and evil, and had seemed heartless to be able to do the things that they had done. But now Emma was wondering if you needed a heart, twisted though it might be, to be able to do such evil and take such enjoyment out of it. Because surely, enjoyment at such malicious behavior, still counted as feeling something, even if it was all wrong. Or maybe Emma was getting it all wrong, and Hook could and did do the things Peter said, and did them because he had no heart.

She just didn't know, and that left Emma unsettled in a way that had nothing to do with how Hook looked. Because she didn't know what to trust, what to believe, and how could she doubt even for one second what Peter had told her about Hook? Peter Pan wouldn't lie to her, not about this, not about a man who was so dangerous to Emma and the boys under Peter's protection.

Emma knew what she was supposed to believe, who she was supposed to trust first and foremost. But some fickle piece inside of her was intent on Hook, on buying whole heartedly into whatever deceptions he was weaving. Making her want to discount that a smile could cover for the most cruelest of intentions, all her good senses and carefully built up instincts turned topsy turvey because she had found Hook's looks so pleasing. She could recognize it would have been better if Hook had lived up to Peter's descriptions, if the pirate had been as ugly as his soul was reported to be. Because then Emma wouldn't have been so dazzled, left staring at him so stupidly.

Feeling very much like her head was turning to mush, Emma was caught unprepared for the soft sound of Hook's voice, the anger having leaked out of it and his expression. His voice speaking at a murmur, she watched as the pirate relaxed into his seat. With a cloth napkin in his hand, the pirate set about to polishing his already pristine looking hook, that action of his drawing Emma's eyes briefly to it. But it couldn't hold her attention for long, Emma more interested in looking at Hook's face, watching the way his lips formed those soft spoken words. Lulling her into relaxing as well, Emma settling back down into the seat she had abandoned, then leaning forward on the table in an attempt to better hear the actual words Hook was speaking.

First impressions of Neverland was the last thing she had been expecting, Emma listening as Hook talked about his pirates arrival far from any of the islands. How utterly alien and exotic it had seemed, this world of far reaching oceans, with only a few bits of land to break up an otherwise endless sea.

"Even for us pirates, men who live and die on the seas, it was frightening." Hook was saying, still maintaining that soft murmur. "Our ships need ports to lay anchor at, the sea itself can only provide us with so much. And that was before we found out just how unforgiving Neverland's waters can be!"

Emma shivered, thinking of the man eaters, the sharks and the kraken, and a whole host of other dangerous beasts that prowled the waters between the mainland and the smaller islands. Swimming wasn't a past time many if any enjoyed while in Neverland, though there was a few isolated patches of water, small lakes and waterfalls that were safe enough.

"Some good men were lost..." continued Hook. "Before we glimpsed sight of the mainland. Shrouded in mist that day, we were almost upon it, before our lookout gave the alarm. We had to battle not just our curiosity, but our own ships, fighting to keep them off course of the tide that was drawing us closer to treacherous rocks that littered the shallows' pathways."

"Sailing has never been particularly safe, but here in Neverland? With waters we didn't yet know, with a mist as thick as soup? It was more than dangerous, it was damn near suicidal!" His hand kept on caressing his hook with the cloth, over and over until the silver positively gleamed. "It would take years before my crew could claim any sort of expertise on the kind of sailing these waters offered us." A slight quirk of his lips, Emma teased with the promise of a half smile. "But as you must know, in Neverland we have nothing but time."

Emma slowly nodded. "Time..." She began. "Is the one thing we all have plenty of."

"Indeed." Hook gave a nod of his own, his eyebrows drawing together in thought. "It wasn't what we hoped to find, but having time on our side, is not anything to scoff at."

"And so you began your waiting game?" Emma asked. "For Peter to give you this...this thing that you need?"

"Not quite." demurred Hook. "In those first days, we were just intent on surviving, on escaping the unpleasant situation of our home land." His eyes darkening at some memory he wasn't sharing, Hook gave a bitter laugh. "We were damned you see..."

"Damned?" Emma couldn't stop from shivering, her eyes growing bigger at the very idea.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't." Hook muttered with a sigh. "We would have died for sure if we hadn't come to Neverland...but there was no guarantee of safety here. There still isn't..."

"Maybe if you stopped making trouble..." Emma began her suggestion, only to stop at Hook's laugh.

"Emma, we are pirates. Trouble is what we do."

She couldn't help but frown at that. "But your trouble hurts people..."

An odd look in his eyes, the pirate captain merely went on polishing his gleaming hook. He made no attempt to deny her point, nor tried to argue the merits of the pirates brand of trouble. A trouble the likes of which made Emma shiver, the girl remembering all Peter had told her. The killings and the torture, the raping and pillaging, and suddenly she was too aware of all the fine things laying littered about the room. Things that were most likely stolen, including the very food that she had just been eating.

Abruptly Emma pushed the plate away from her. "You steal." She said flatly.

"Oh aye, we do." Hook nodded. "Pan got that much right at least."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Emma demanded. Was it her imagination, or did Hook actually hesitate before answering.

"Generally there's two sides to every story." Hook finally said. "Even more once the gossips get their tongues wagging. Even worse is those that speak out of malice, with an intent to do real harm."

"Peter wouldn't lie!" Emma protested, cheeks flushing at Hook's scoff. "Not about this, and not to me!"

"Peter sprinkles just enough of the truth in his stories." Hook retorted. "For every detail he gets right, another ten are all lies."

"And what has he lied about?!" Emma practically growled with that question.

"That we would torture and kill children."

"No, you just kidnap and hold them prisoner!" Emma snapped.

"Guilty as charged." Hook allowed. "It's desperate measures Emma...for desperate times. If Pan won't hand over what I seek nicely, than I have no choice but to force his hand in other ways."

"Using me as hostage won't get you anything." Emma insisted. "You'll only bring down the wrath of Peter and my brothers..." She trembled with her emotions, her fear. "People may die...the fighting that breaks out because of your actions will get enough people hurt, that you might as well be as guilty of the things that Peter has said you do!"

What was that look in Hook's eyes, that brief flash of pain as the man finally let go of the cloth napkin. It was almost like he was bothered by what Emma had said, like it troubled him more than Hook wanted. But his words didn't betray any inner turmoil, Hook leaning forward in his seat, his blue eyes intent on Emma.

"Are you that valuable to Pan, that he would risk the other children in a fight with my pirates, to reclaim you?"

"I...I..." Emma stammered a second, before shaking her head no. Her blonde hair all but bounced from the force of her movements. "He'd try to rescue me...he'd tried to save any of my brothers that were caught by you..."

But Hook seemed dismissive of what she was saying, staring at her with such single minded focus. "Just who are you exactly, Emma Swan?"

"I..." She didn't understand the question, her brow furrowing in worry.

"Or should I ask what are you?"

"What am I?" Emma repeated, her confusion plain in her eyes. "Nothing...I'm...nothing?"

"I don't believe that for a second." Hook said. "And neither should you. Forget the very fact that Pan brought you to Neverland...no person should ever doubt their own self worth. You're not nothing Emma, don't ever forget that."

"I...I won't..." Emma whispered, shaken by the pirate's words. It was the first time she could ever remember an adult speaking so passionately about her, the first time Emma wasn't told she was trash and worthless. Hook made Emma want to believe that she was more than nothing, that she wasn't just another unloved orphan, abandoned by her parents, left to suffer in a cruel world. It was a kind of praising reassurance that Hook gave her, different from things Peter and the lost boys had told her.

The pirate's regard made her want to sit up straighter, Emma liking that Hook might think her of worth. It was almost as though the pirate's opinion mattered to her, as though Emma wanted to impress Hook as much as he had done her. But before she could truly bask under his praise, Hook resumed his questioning speculations.

"Haven't you ever wondered WHY Pan brought you to this land?"

"Peter has brought many orphans to Neverland." Emma countered. "Why should I be any more special than any of my brothers?"

"You've never wondered why there are no other girls amongst Pan's troop?" Hook asked.

"I've wondered..." She reluctantly admitted. "I've even asked Peter about that."

"And what did he say?"

A memory came to her then, just a brief flash of Peter standing before her, insisting to Emma that it had to be her. An insistence Emma hadn't bothered to question too deeply, an insistence she might have even taken pleasure in. She rather liked being the only girl among the lost boys, their beloved big sister who they could count on and support. But Emma didn't share any of this with Hook, merely lifting her chin with a stubborn look in her eyes.

"I don't think I should tell you."

Too late did Emma realize her words were as good as admitting to something vital about herself. She didn't know what that vital thing was, or how it could be of use to the pirate, but Emma felt as if she had fallen headfirst into Hook's trap. Her eyes began to narrow, Emma angry and expecting Hook to gloat. But he didn't, not even bothering to smile in triumph. Instead he just stared at her, and the disturb look in his eyes was one that was unmistaken. Hook was bothered by her, by what reason Peter might have had for bringing Emma to Neverland. That look unsettled her, Emma suddenly wondering if she should have been questioning more closely the hows and whys of her being the only girl among Peter's rescued orphans.

"I made a wish." She whispered aloud, more to herself than Hook. "Every night since I was eight years old..."

"Wishes are powerful." Hook acknowledged. "And can be dangerous."

"This one wasn't..." But Emma felt uncertain now. She didn't like that just one encounter with the pirate could set her doubting Peter and the reasons why the boy had brought her to Neverland in the first place. But suddenly she was wondering things, wondering how she could be the only girl amongst the lost boys. There was no Peter Pan around to distract her from these type of questions, Emma thinking harder than she had ever been allowed to, here in Neverland.

But there was no answers to be found in this room, Hook as curious as she. Leaving Emma confused, even conflicted, the girl suddenly doubting the one thing she had been so sure of. And with that doubt came fear, Emma not wanting the only happiness she had ever known, to be ripped from her. But even as she would fight against that fear, the doubt would remain. A domino effect was now in place, one that might ultimately lead to Peter Pan's downfall, or to her own.

To Be Continued...

This chapter was a nightmare to try to write. I was so frustrated for the last two and a half nights. I could have cried I was stressing myself so bad. I put way too much pressure on myself, but I was so stuck on the damn conversation! *bangs head* I'm at a point in the fic I don't like...like in terms of trying to write it. I need to work on relationships, specifically Hook and Emma's, and I feel like I am going out of my mind to try and write that part, and it's only the first day of her being on the Jolly Roger ship! X_X

I'm extremely eager to get to the part when all hell breaks loose. But that won't be for a while yet. So many plans, but not much formed for this part of the story. ARGH! I wanna thank Zerousy for hand holding and trying to get me to breathe while I rant and raved and went absolutely crazy trying to write this damn chapter. Thanks hon for talking with and trying to calm me down, and even trying to make conversation suggestions. It is appreciated more than I can properly convey!

This has not been a productive week and a half. *hangs head* and then the second episode of the new season is making me want to write a similar tale that is more in cannon to what I think Peter is intending to do to Emma on the show! But I've resisted the urge to do that. I totally smiled when Hook stated that Pan is a demon just like I had him think that in my story. XD

-Michelle

Soulphur, oh thank you! That cheers me up to read! :) Makes me feel a little less stressed when people take the time to say if they liked the latest chapters!

Zerousy, you know how to make me blush! I feel like Emma preening under Hook's praise now! XD Though sadly I don't think this chapter rocked like you hoped it would. X_X And then the conversation I was trying to write sorta derailed itself into a completely different direction. *tries not to flail* Thanks again for trying to calm me down the other night. *hugs*

Angelfan984, hah she has no idea, and maybe he has not enough ideas either! Thanks my dear!

JustWriter 2, ooooh that is an awesome suggestion! I may try to work that in if you don't mind. *begs with puppy dog eyes*

Stepahnie E.M. thanks! And thanks for title suggestions. One title I played with, but haven't made any decisions, was something like innocent lost, or seduction of the innocence. Though the seduction doesn't refer to Hook so much as Peter Pan.

Guest, I'm trying, thanks!

Jo12345, aw thanks, i am trying. Slowly but surely...X_X


	9. Chapter 9

There were things Hook had told himself, promises he had made upon meeting the girl. And though those promises had gone unspoken, the weight of them was no less. He wondered which was the heavier burden, keeping quiet for the girl's own good, or that of revealing all. Either one led to the same outcome, the girl dead, murdered at Pan's hand. Neither one could stop the inevitable, but maybe just maybe keeping quiet could delay it.

Only he wasn't doing a good job at keeping quiet. Hungry for answers, far too curious about the girl, and Pan's plans for her, Hook had been pushing Emma for answers. Wanting to know the how and why of her existence in Neverland, he hadn't been able to resist planting a seed of doubt in her. And though it was a long way from blooming, the girl was already distraught, the distant look in her eye hinting at the thoughts that were troubling her.

Unhappy, Hook curled his fingers around the stem of his glass. But he didn't drink. He just stared at the girl, and wondered how in the world he was going to avoid becoming attached to her when already he liked her. And yet it wouldn't matter how strong that like was, so long as that burning curiosity kept trying to lead them both down paths best left unexplored. Emma didn't want to grow up, and Hook didn't want to see her get killed. Yet both would eventually happen, and Hook would be damned before he himself triggered the change in her.

And yet the questions still remained. What was she to Pan? And could Hook really use her, bartering her away as though Emma was nothing but a means to get that which he needed? Could he be half as ruthless as Hook had made claims of being, or was he growing soft, actually weakening the longer he remained in Neverland? Hook just didn't know, might even be afraid of the answers. Because either way, strong or weak, it left Hook as a person he didn't like very much. He didn't want to be so soft as to give up on his revenge, but neither did he want to be so uncaring and ruthless as to sacrifice child after child!

Things had been so much simpler before Hook and his pirates had come to Neverland. Before they had discovered the nature of the demon, before they had learned just what Pan chose to feed on. That period had been all too brief, but the moment of clarity had never been stronger, Hook's purpose clear. To find the means to destroy Rumplestiltskin, Hook never looking back. Never deviating for a second in his broken heart over what he had to do. Never that is, until after he met Owen, and others boys like him.

It wasn't until he met the children, until he had learned what was being done to the lost ones, that Hook had begun to suffer a crisis of conscience. Wondering how he could leave Neverland yet wondering how he could NOT, Hook wanted Pan dead almost as much as he wanted the same for Rumplestiltskin. Cursing both demons, and wishing he had never set sail into Neverland, Hook felt pulled in two directions, maybe three. Because he might just go crazy if Pan kept on feeding off of children, Hook unable to stomach what was really going on under the demon's watch.

These kind of thoughts he had had a million times, Hook going round and round in circles, and never coming away with a definitive answer. He might brood for forever and a day, and still not have any idea over what he should really do. He might still be brooding now, if not for the sounds intruding into the cabin. Aided by the open porthole window by his bed, Hook could hear the greeting shouts of his returning crew. They were glad to be back, but it was more than that from the sound of it, the men most likely having had a huge success in their hunting.

It meant the pirates would be busy preparing the meats, skinning and salting them, preserving rather than eating it all at once. Depending on how big a haul they had pulled in, the pirates might not have to go ashore for a few weeks' time, and the meat would be supplemented with what fish they could nab from the sea. There would also be fruits, and maybe even some nuts, some from what the pirates had managed to forage, but most of it would be from their existing stores.

Life in Neverland was vastly different from the life Hook and his pirates had once known. There wasn't much if any contact between the main land and the islands, the seas too dangerous for those without a real ship. Without a regular source of ships to loot from, and trading cut off to them, Hook and his pirates had had to learn to be self sufficient. When not keeping their food supplies well stocked, the Jolly Roger pirates were often found tending to other tasks once thought beneath them. Some, like the making of the crew's beer, was met with little if any complaint. But others, like that of making and repairing clothing, were not a job any of his pirates particularly enjoyed.

There was always something to do, no matter how big or a small, nearly all jobs important. The pirates had adapted to this new way of life, though those that had been too vocal with complaints, soon found their attitudes changing, or else they ended up dead. But even those who didn't complain much, would be glad for a chance to leave this cursed place. Some might be hardened enough to not even look back, to not even spare one thought to the children they left behind.

But not Hook! Already haunted by Owen and those like him, the pirate would never be able to forget, no matter how far he sailed. His revenge, already so steeped in blood, would always be tainted by the knowledge of Neverland, of what had gone on, what still went on. The weapon he bartered for, paid for in children's lives, everyone, even Hook held hostage to Pan's whims.

A big game to the demon, the children suffered the costliest price of all. Hook wanted done with it, wanted away before he lost what was left of his own sanity, insisting to himself that he remained in Neverland only to get that which Pan had. The thing Hook needed so desperately, and even once Pan handed it over, it didn't mean an immediate end of the pirates' time in Neverland. Not unless they found a way to escape without flying! But without another bean from their home land, the pirates would have to rely on the magic of pixie dust. They didn't yet have nearly enough of the dust to make all five ships flight ready, maybe they never would. But it was a problem to figure out once-IF Hook got a hold of that thing from Pan that the Indian Shamaness had once spoken of.

He didn't know nearly enough about it but Hook didn't spare time to wonder now what sort of form this weapon would take. He just hoped it would lead Rumplestiltskin to as slow and painful a death as Mila's had been quick and sudden. That was all that mattered as far as the weapon was concerned, making Rumplestiltskin suffer for what he had done to Hook and Mila.

He smiled then, a sadistic pleasure filling him as he imagined Rumplestiltskin writhing in pain. The girl noticed, though Emma couldn't possible know what was the reason behind his smile. But it left her shivering all the same, the girl glaring all the harder to cover her unease. It was enough of a reaction to have the pleasure ebb from him, Hook's smile waning. He could recognize the signs of some kind of abuse, the girl wary of him, and his moods. As bothered as she was by his anger, Emma seemed even more disturbed by that smile he had just worn. As though she knew enough to recognize the signs of a man taking pleasure at the thought of hurting someone.

Never a champion to those who would bully and abuse children and women, Hook had to control the anger that hit hard every time he so much as thought of Emma knowing of such torments. A girl like her should never have known to fear a smile, no matter the reason behind it's cause. Nor should she be sent flinching at the motion of a glass slamming down, recoiling as though every sudden sound was the signal to something bad about to happen.

The signs were all there, and Hook wanted to know. But it would grant nothing but heartache, both his concern and curiosity hardly beneficial. To himself or the girl, because Hook could change nothing, could barely affect her present let alone her future. He understood that, yet Hook still wished it could be otherwise.

And with that wish in his heart, Hook tried to push aside his round about way of meddling. It would take days of such restraint, before Hook could say if he would have met with any success on that front. He couldn't know the damage he had already done, inadvertent or otherwise, time having started in this room for a young Emma Swan. It wouldn't be stopped, it's one controllable aspect being how fast it would now flow.

It all equaled to desire, here in Neverland. The very nature of the realm was built on it, the wishes of one's hearts warping time. Slowing, even outright stopping it, many wishing for the one thing few if any one had enough of. Time. Even Hook had wished for it, wanting the time to be able to live long enough to not only find that which he needed to kill Rumplestiltskin, but to use it. And with that desire in his heart, the bean had led him to the one land where he would have time in abundance, three hundred years passing and Hook not having aged a day. He'd go on in that frozen existence so long as his revenge went unfinished, time stopped so long as his heart's desires remained unfulfilled.

But a new desire, one he didn't always acknowledge, was in his heart. A desire harder to ignore, when faced with the girl sitting across from him. If he let it, his desire for Pan to be brought to an end, might be a powerful enough wish for Hook to live forever. Because forever was how long he'd be left waiting, Hook convinced Pan was unstoppable. Believing that the day would never come, that Pan's reign of terror would never end, didn't make it any easier for Hook. The drink he was tasting suddenly turning sour, Hook setting the glass down far more gently than he wanted to.

Hoping none of his inner thoughts and anguish showed, Hook gave Emma a smile that was far friendlier than the one that had so clearly unsettled her just moments ago. She still looked wary of it, her guard up though her glare seemed to lose some of it's fire. She wasn't that focused on the sounds drifting into the room, more alert to the man before her, than any perceived threat the noisy pirates outside the cabin might make.

Hook was listening to the sounds too, a background noise of glad shouts and jeers. His pirates were in a celebratory mood. Hunting must have gone very well indeed, Hook smiling more at the thought of avoiding the mainland for any length of time.

"It seems my crew has had a great success."

The suspicion in her eyes was almost enough to make Hook laugh. Emma practically hissing out her question. "A success at what?!"

"At their hunting of course." Hook answered, already rising from his seat. She immediately moved to stand, her gaze on him at all times, tracking Hook's movements. "The deer and foul shall be a welcome break from all that fish Smee has been stuffing down our gullets."

Emma was left blinking in confusion. "Are you complaining about the wonderful tasting food that man has made?!"

"You haven't tasted true heaven until you've had Smee's veal." Hook answered in all seriousness. "Especially after a steady diet of a week's worth of fish!"

"That's a week I would gladly suffer." Emma muttered, and Hook's smile nearly lost some of it's glow to his private displeasure.

"We'll see about getting you set up to learn some of Smee's culinary magic." Hook told her.  
Especially if you're to be with us for any length of time..." Smoothly he turned the conversation back to a question that wouldn't prove problematic for her growth. "Just how long do you think Pan will take to give an answer?"

She visibly hesitated, shifted her gaze to the side. Shrugging and evasive, Emma practically murmured too soft to hear. "Not an answer I can guess at."

"Ah well...even if he was gearing up to mount a rescue, I expect he'd be here by day's end." Emma basically fidgeted in place, still refusing to look directly at him. "What?" Hook asked, not wanting to give in to the suspicion that was rising within him.

"What...what if Peter's not here by day's end?" Emma ventured with a quick look at his eyes. "What then?"

"Emma..." Hook started to approach her. "Just why wouldn't he..." Abruptly he changed his line of thought. "Why wasn't he the one to come rescue your friend Galen? Why did he let you, someone he clearly went to a lot of trouble to keep secret, come here instead?" She seemed to fidget more and more at his questions, but Emma didn't try to flee as Hook drew near. She actually went so far as to let him use the curved part of his hook, to lift her chin up, Hook staring hard into her eyes. "He doesn't know..."

"He will soon...eventually..." Emma allowed, and he could feel the nervous vibration of her body standing so close to his.

"Eventually?!" Hook didn't fight his grimace. "He's doing it again...he's gone hunting..." He had to breathe out the words slowly, to hide his growing horror. Emma still looked at him strangely.

"He's searching for one of my brothers who have gone missing."

"Missing...right..." Hook choked on the words, stepping away from Emma. He was in need of a drink, and wanted something a lot stronger than the cider Smee had provided.

"He'll probably be back within a week's time." Emma added, but she didn't sound so certain of that. "Just as soon as he can..."

"Can what?!" Hook demanded, morbidly curious as to what sort of lie Pan told to cover what he was really doing.

"He just needs to make sure Evan is okay." Emma finished. Hook couldn't help himself, he made a scoffing sound of that. Which only served to make Emma frown and be defensive. "There's a chance he might have grown up, but there was also the chance that he got caught."

"I can assure you, your Galen was the only lost one we were holding prisoner on our ship this day."

"Evan has been gone longer than a day." Emma whispered. "We...Peter has to be sure he's okay. That he's not caught, or laying somewhere hurt..." She started to hug her arms around her, shivering. "Peter won't give up until he knows there's no chance of Evan returning to us."

Privately Hook thought it was all an excuse for the demon to feed at his leisure, maybe even buy some time away from the children he lived amongst. But Hook wouldn't, couldn't say such things to Emma. He couldn't even tell her how he hoped with all his heart that Pan wouldn't find the missing boy, that he wished fervently that Evan would be the first to escape the fate the demon had intended for the child. But neither would he lie and make claims of hoping the boy would be found, Hook instead trying to distract her from the trouble in her heart.

"Well, Emma, are you brave enough to meet my crew?"

Her eyes still troubled, Emma drew herself taller, and stopping hugging herself. "I am. But are they brave enough to meet ME?!"

Hook couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I don't know how brave they'll be, meeting their first lost girl. Especially one fierce enough to fight with their captain."

"It wasn't much of a fight." She protested, but looked pleased by his praise.

"Tell that to the parts of me that still hurt from your knee!" Hook told her, surprised to see the faint blush on her cheeks. But she didn't try to apologize, and he understood why. Emma had been fighting, to remain free, maybe even scared enough to think she was fighting for her life. He couldn't demand she be sorry for that kind of reason, and Hook might even admire her for her desperate descent into dirty tactics.

"I dare say you'd have me at your complete mercy if you had held on to your sword." continued Hook, and Emma's lips quirked at their corners, as though she was fighting a smile.

"You tease me."

"Perhaps. But you have the makings of a good form...you just need a better teacher."

"Like you?" She asked, and Hook allowed himself to nod.

"I doubt there's any finer a swordsman than me in this land." Hook couldn't help but be boastful. "But you'd best be concentrating on your cooking lessons with Smee before you turn a thought to dueling ANYONE on this ship."

"And why not?" Emma demanded, hands on her hips, her pose one of pure defiance.

"You can't fight without your sword. And that's something I'll be keeping a close eye on." Hook told her.

Emma looked at though she was close to scowling. "Afraid I'll take command of your ship?"

"At the very least one of the row boats." Hook retorted. "Along with a few men to row it."

He could see Emma liked that, the thought of fighting her way off the ship. Liked it enough that she might be tempted enough to try it, should she get her hands on a sword. It just made Hook more determined to keep such a weapon out of her reach, though a part of him wondered if it would be easier to just let her go. As if once out of sight, she'd be out of his mind. But Hook knew from too much experience, that that was never the case when it came to the lost ones and their sad, sad fates.

But Hook refused to ruin the light hearted mood they had attained with thoughts of a darker, more unfortunate nature. Instead he once again offered his arm to her, and she took it, her lips still fighting the smile that wanted to come out. He found himself waiting for it, anticipation almost anxious for Emma was an already lovely looking girl, whose looks would only improve should she deign to grant Hook with one of her long denied smiles.

Not knowing if her smile alone was enough to win hearts or break them, Hook wasn't entirely eager to share the experience of Emma with his crew. He had enjoyed their time together, and could admit to being leery of his crew's reaction to the girl. Especially one who was nearly a woman, and so pretty a one at that! Hook knew he would be busy enforcing his threat, making sure that no one did anything untoward to the girl, or attempted behavior that would trigger her growth process. So busy would Hook be trying to protect the girl from the other men, it would dawn on him too late the danger he himself posed to her. The danger that had started the second he had stared into her face, and triggered her awareness of him. The die had been cast, time ticking anew to the beat of Emma Swan's heart.

To Be Continued...

Okay! This chapter was MUCH easier to write. I tried writing some yesterday...but had only three hours sleep, so ended up trashing much of what I wrote in the first draft. I had gotten stuck on the conversation, but reworking it fixed the getting stuck problem. Hooray!

So basically, except for a few of the opening paragraphs, everything else was written all today. So that is fast, considering how I struggled with eight over the course of like half a week. X_X

Now I am debating how to handle ten. Mainly I'm wondering if I will have it be a Emma POV, and do sorta..not a flash back per se, but her thinking briefly on how she met the other pirates. Sorta like a timeskip to the morning of the second day of her being on the Jolly Roger. But we'll see...Mainly I worry that I won't have enough for a whole chapter if I do the meet the crew thing...but also worry that the first day is taking too long. Kinda like dying at the thought of each day ending up detailed over eight or ten chapters. X_X

Also a side note...when I said I had an idea that was more canon, you guys misunderstood me. I didn't mean I was changing this story. I meant I had an idea that was more canon to what I think might happen on the show, and it would be a different story, a story in addition to this one. An idea that has a similar premise, but would have Snow White and Charming and maybe Baelfire/Neal involved with Emma, Hook, and Pan. So no...this story isn't affected by that story, and I have been resisting starting the second story. Resisting a couple of story ideas at the moment...But my plot bunnies are soooooooooo out of control for my Once ships! XD It's already such a juggling act...X_X

-Michelle

Soulphur, aw thank you! If you saw my journal, you'd have seen a few posts of me having a total melt down over the writing process of eight. It was stressful and frustrating. Predominantly the conversation dialogue stuff. I seem to be having for the last two weeks, a lot of writers block problems. The chapter for a different fic, was also stressful but in a different way, and I wrote a lot of complaining journal entries about my difficulties on that too! XD And of course, some friends got earfuls from me of me practically having a nervous break down. It's funny, I KNOW in a few months time, I'll be able to look at chapter eight without remembering why it was so frustrating. I might even end up liking the chapter, though right now I'm still too close to the pain of trying to write it...plus I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I'm being a perfectionist when I am not. -_- So I am glad if you and the others who read it, ended up liking it. Makes the pain of it, the sweat and tears worth it! :D

Justwriter2, thanks! For both allowing me to use the Smee Hook convo idea, and for your reviews. It's like Hook can't help himself, his curiosity almost stronger than his concern. Though he's trying to behave on that front. Can't promise he'll always succeed. I want him to plant some doubts in Emma's mind about Peter Pan.

One Shot At Life, thanks! I do have notes. But that's not the problem. My problem has always been the damn conversations, dialogues, and to a lesser extent the feelings caused by conversations. The talking and thoughts are something I have never been able to truly plan out. I have to wing them, and then play at trying to fix the problem the conversations and feelings might have caused in terms of my plans and goals for the fics. Right now I'm at what I consider the hard part, that I can't talk about too easily without spoiling, and it's mainly cause of needing conversations to develop then advance relationships. Suffice it to say, I have a lot of plans to enact when Peter Pan does come back from hunting down the latest Lost Boy, and those plans I am so eager and excited to reveal in story form to you all! XD Let's just say, and a bit crude at that, shit starts hitting the fan once Peter Pan finds out Hook has Emma. But of course how long that takes to happen, is dependant on how Hook and Emma develop in their feelings for each other. I was aiming for a week before Peter finds out...but it could be shortened or lengthened depending on how successful I feel it's going.

Angelfan984, aw thanks! I'm glad you liked her thoughts. A lot of has to do with how good he looks (aw puppy love, her first crush, whatever you want to call it) but some of it also had to do with his behavior. He's not acting like the guys of her past, and that shocks but amazes, and endears him to her. Though she doesn't want to be so impressed by him! XD And it is such a slow burn...I worry people will get bored and abandon the fic in frustration. =/

Zerousy, my face was one of those shocked smiles, like 0_0 or maybe with the jaw all open, you know :O. Cause I was frankly stupefied, shocked you thought it not only met your high expectations but past them! Aw...thank you, though I don't feel it was worthy of such praise. Maybe I am just being such a perfectionist. But thank you so much, cause it made me happy if stunned! XD Oooh I want to hear how he sounds like singing...bet it's a good voice! And you couldn't slap his sexy away, no matter how hard or how often you tried! XD


	10. Chapter 10

Peter Pan had planted a lot of ideas in young Emma Swan's head where the pirates were concerned. Ideas that had the truth twisted, making the pirates far worse than what they were in reality. Yes they were criminals, yes they stole, maybe even killed, but neither were the pirates the monsters Peter had made them out to be. They were people first and foremost, individuals with their own quirks and personalities. Maybe not all of them liked children, but few if any would ever think to kill one. And even if that had, Hook wouldn't have allowed that kind of scum among his pirates, the man insisting at the very least that none of his men stand for a child to be abused, let alone tortured or killed.

But of course Emma didn't know that about Hook, and in truth she would have misinterpreted such good intentions. She wasn't yet ready to believe in the idea of an adult who was good, who might be kind to a child without some selfish motivating need. Emma couldn't believe, but it didn't stop her from being impressed by the pirate captain, Emma unwittingly attracted to him for his behavior as well as his looks.

She couldn't immediately say the same for his band of pirates, not all of Hook's crew as pleasant to look at. There was only a small handful of men that could in any way be considered good looking, and only one who came close to rivaling Hook's brand of handsome. That one, a pirate who went by the name of Rauol, still fell a million miles short of Hook's pretty brilliance. But with his own gypsy dark looks and brown eyes, Rauol had never had a problem picking up on Hook's leavings where both women and treasure was concerned.

He wasn't the only one, and while most of the pirates couldn't claim half the successes of Rauol when it came to the fairer sex, their pockets were bloated with enough gold and jewels to buy their way into a woman's affection. Some might be rich enough to start their own small harems, their wealth having accumulated over the many years the pirates had spent in Neverland. There may not have been any ships to plunder, but there was treasure to be found. And Hook's pirates had discovered most of it, in their quest to find the key to Hook's revenge, and a way home.

Of course all that money and jewels were of little use in Neverland. The dwarfs and the elves wouldn't sell to the pirates, and the Indian Tribe had never been greedy for gold. They had liked some of the prettier bits of jewels, but they hadn't been so desperate for what they considered nothing more than shiny bits of glass to overlook the kidnapping of their princess. With no one to buy from or trade with, all that treasure went unappreciated, stowed away in the hopes that one day they would return home and be able to finally spend it.

Many of the pirates would be able to at last retire, though most would not. They simply couldn't ignore the call of the sea, the adventure of it, and the new plunder waiting to be found. They wanted home, but more than that, they wanted a return to their way of life. That meant the things, the ships both prey and competition, and most of all the women. It had been too long since these pirates had dealt with anyone not of the demon and his band of boys, or touched things that they hadn't made with their own hands.

They were longing for the creature comforts of the Enchanted Realm, and though Hook hadn't made a point of stressing the importance of Emma Swan being on the Jolly Roger, they sensed it all the same. She was important, special if only because of what she was. Female, and lovely, and frustratingly a few years too young for anyone to fully appreciate all she could offer.

Even young as she was, Emma was temptation. The pirates warned by Smee, still had to school their reactions, still had to keep from stopping what they were doing to instead openly stare. It helped that Hook stood besides her, his blue eyes fierce with a glower that spoke of pain and punishment to any who did wrong to the girl. Many wouldn't go against his wishes, knowing it was the quickest way to end up at the sharp end of his hook or worse. Too many who had tried to mutiny while in Neverland had ended up as chum for the beasts that swam Neverland's seas.

It left only the smart ones, or at least the ones with enough sense to preserve their own hides. Loyal because there was often little other choice, none came close to Smee. That pirate was the oldest of the group, with his hair long since graying. He hadn't started out as a pirate, but once captured and forced into the way of life on the seas, Smee had quickly realized just where to place his trust and loyalties in.

The oldest of the pirates, he was loyal to a fault when it came to Hook, and absolutely, overly protective of the captain's interests. He hadn't been there to see the tempest that was the love story of Hook with his Mila, but Smee had seen the aftermath. The heart ache and grief Hook had gone through. Letting it haunt him, motivate him, everything Hook did in the long run a response to it.

Privy to so many things, Smee was aware of how easily Hook let his heart get involved with lost causes. And no causes were as lost as the children Peter Pan brought to Neverland. And that included the girl, Smee watching her first with suspicion, then with real concern. Because he knew the path Hook was fighting against, the lost cause that would break his heart just a little more when Pan killed the girl for growing up.

Wanting to protect Hook from the heartbreak of Emma, Smee was not at all fond of the girl. Something she was aware of, though Emma didn't understand the true reason behind Smee's dislike. She wouldn't have much cared either, but one taste of his food had been enough to make Emma want to be on Smee's good side. If only to pry from him the secret of his cooking success.

Determined to be a quick study, Emma was all too happy to follow Smee into the ship's galley at Hook's insistence. Smee had grumbled, but allowed it, well aware the captain needed to spend as little time with the girl as possible. Cooking lessons would take up some of that time, but not all of it, Smee wondering how he was going to run interference between his captain and the girl in the coming days.

He'd soon have his hands full with the first of Emma's lessons, Smee finding that if the girl had ever known anything about cooking, she had forgotten it all over the years spent with the lost boys. It was a small miracle she could even boil water, though Smee couldn't help but admire how earnestly she threw herself into the learning. She WANTED to learn, was eager for it, and so long as Smee was showing her how to do things, she didn't act the brat. Smee realized he could have liked this girl, if not for the worries and fears he had for his captain over her.

If it was up to Smee, he would have kept Emma locked away from Captain Hook. It didn't matter where, be it the galley or down in the ship's brig. If he could have, Smee would have dropped her off on an island, anywhere that was far far away from Hook. But he couldn't, wouldn't actually harm the girl. It was his own morals at work, Smee priding himself on being kind to women, even the small ones like Emma.

And with Emma openly heaping praise, and devotion to Smee's skill with food, even the old man was slowly being won over by her, though he would never admit it. He kept his exterior gruff, even as inside he worried and thought it unfortunate that this girl would go the way of the lost boys. She was such a bright, vivacious creature, that it was hard to imagine her light being snuffed out. But Smee didn't doubt for one second that Peter Pan would go through with it. Something he feared the captain was in real need of reminding.

He was especially of that opinion when the night's meal time was upon them, Hook having sat young Emma to the right of him at his table. The top members of the crew were normally the only ones allowed such a privilege, and yet there she was, looking far too at ease with her guest of honor position. Too at ease for Smee's comfort, the man of the opinion that Emma should have been regulated to the position of servant, or better yet prisoner. But he wasn't the captain, it was Hook's decision to make, fool hardy a mistake as it so clearly was.

Emma for her part, knew nothing of what was troubling Smee. She had enjoyed what she hoped was the first of her cooking lessons with the man, and felt real pride to see the pirates eating the vegetables she had steam cooked with her own two hands. Of course it wasn't the main choice of feast for the pirates. That was reserved for Smee's veal, the pirate having insisted Emma only watch as he had prepared the cuts of meat. She hadn't missed a second of it's preparation, trying to memorize everything Smee had been doing. She wasn't yet confident she could replicate the skill the old pirate had, but she knew seasoned veal would go over a lot better than steamed cooked vegetables with her brothers.

Those brothers she missed, and felt real worry for. She knew they would miss her something terribly, and would most likely be too frightened to even try to mount a rescue on their own. She felt bad for them, but Emma was glad they wouldn't try any heroics. It would be hard enough to escape without having to worry about a brother or two, let alone without having to mount a rescue of someone who had come to rescue her.

If it had been the older of the lost boys, those around her age, Emma wouldn't have any had cause for doubt. She knew the older lost boys could take care of themselves, and with or without Peter, would have been able to handle rescuing her. But Emma wasn't entirely content to just wait around to be saved. She considered herself strong and capable, and smart enough that she's get around the problem of not being able to fly or swim to the mainland. In the meantime she would enjoy the pirates' hospitality, and learn everything she could of Smee's cooking talents.

She wanted as many of Smee's culinary secrets as she could get, Emma learning once more how good meat that wasn't burnt, and that had been seasoned, could be. She was also appreciating the foods that were rare treats, things they only got when they visited among the different peoples of the land. Emma didn't have much use for dwarven or elven food, but the Indian Tribe had had some quite normal things that were practically delicacies to the lost boys. Things like freshly baked bread, or pie, and Emma really wanted to know how to make those flaky pastries she had enjoyed during lunch with Hook.

This time on the pirates ship was one of a rare opportunity. Peter had never allowed Emma and the lost boys to mingle long with the other natives of Neverland. Especially the adults. He would never have even considered allowing Emma or any of her brothers to take time out from playing, to go with the adults and learn something at their hands. In this Emma thought Peter was too strict, the boy overly protective of his family when it came to the potential evils the adults could do.

Emma knew Peter would have a fit if he knew she was with the pirates. That she was doing more than just being their prisoner. He had always stressed how imperative it was to stay away from the pirates, though now that she had met them, Emma couldn't completely understand the danger. The pirates just didn't seem as bad as Peter Pan had claimed. If anything they reminded her of the lost boys, as though her brothers had finally grown up and become this unruly, rowdy bunch. And though they were very loud at dinner time, and perhaps drinking more than she was comfortable with, Emma wasn't particularly scared anymore. It wasn't that she felt safe, but she didn't feel threatened, especially with Hook at her side, Emma sure the man was working to protect her if only because it suited his purpose.

She still didn't think Peter had what Hook wanted. Nor did she think Peter would have handed it over, if he had had it. But she couldn't help but wonder about it, wonder what it was, what it did, and where it could be. Emma even wondered if there would be peace in Neverland once-if Hook got a hold of it, though that wouldn't have made Peter Pan happy. Peace would have been such a boring adventure, Peter preferring excitement and fun for his family, rather than safe and calm.

Peter was always thinking, always looking for the next adventure for Emma and the lost boys to have. Normally she didn't mind this, kept too busy with fun and danger and the general insanity that was her life, to do much serious thinking. About anything, but especially about thoughts that would have troubled and upset Peter. But now new lines of thought were forming, not all yet explored, but there all the same. Some of it was planted by Hook himself, the girl wondering as much as the pirate had as to why Peter had gathered near exclusively male children. For that matter, Emma was wondering why Peter hadn't a single child from the Indian Tribe, or that of the dwarves of the elves. Why he always sought out children from other worlds.

She was even wondering about other worlds, about the lands beyond her own and that of Neverland. Emma was allowing her long denied curiosity free reign, Hook in effect having taken a tiger out of it's cage. Her thoughts ran all over the place, finding threads that Hook hadn't had to supply, including ones that picked away at Peter's truth. And though there was pirate laughter and cheers all around her, Emma thoughts went over her lunch with Hook until she abruptly set down the fork Smee had reluctantly allowed her to use.

The fork's clatter on her plate didn't register over the din of noise the jovial pirates were making. Most kept right on with their own conversations, and some were already well on their way to being drunk. But Hook wasn't, having noticed Emma's reaction though he couldn't have known it was a thought that had jolted her into frowning.

"You are not from Neverland."

Hook paused before nodding, draining his glass half empty under Smee's disapproving eye. "We're not."

"But Peter said..." She kept on frowning, Emma shaking her head as though trying to dislodge a thought. "The pirates have always been a part of Neverland."

"I can assure you we have not."

Her brow furrowed, the truth drifting in reach, though it was impalpable, the idea that this was something Peter Pan could have lied about. His eyes studying hers, Hook's expression a mask that hid his own thoughts on the matter, the pirate didn't try to relieve Peter of any guilt.

"We've only sailed these waters some three hundred years."

"It just feels like forever." complained the bald headed pirate, who was named Mason, and had tattoos all along his torso, and right up to his neck. 

"The day can't come soon enough when we get to leave." muttered another pirate, one whose name Emma didn't yet know. But his mutterings were picked up by the other pirates, many raising their mugs in toast of the idea of leaving Neverland.

"You're not going to stay?" Emma asked, glad to let the idea of the pirates leaving distract her from the fact Peter might have lied.

"This is not, nor will it ever be our home." Hook answered.

"Home..." Emma murmured, then louder asked, "Then what is home to you?"

Before Hook could answer, there was the pirates speaking. In voices loud with excitement, some sighing with longing, they began speaking of things, even people. It wasn't any one person they were missing, these pirates longing to meet up with beautiful women, having sadly understood that anyone they had left behind was long gone and buried.

Some of the things they missed was food not found in Neverland. Others missed the excitement of visiting cities and port towns, and a few even wondered if the kingdoms they were from still existed in one form or the other.

The names of the kingdoms didn't mean much to Emma. She listened to what was being said, and couldn't imagine missing a place as much as these pirates did. But then she hadn't come from a real home, hadn't had any true connections with the people of the world she had been born into. Her world had been nothing but a place of darkness, a place one could cower and cry themselves to sleep in. Neverland was her home, and until she had tasted Smee's cooking, Emma hadn't found Peter Pan's world lacking.

"What is this world called?" Emma asked.

"It's the Enchanted Realm."

Emma found herself repeating the words. "I thought Neverland was the enchanted realm...?"

"Neverland can't compare to the magic that makes up the Realm of Enchantment." Hook told her. "Nearly anything is possible, if you have the will strong enough to make it happen."

"Anything?" She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"It can make men into monsters, and produce beans powerful enough to open portals to other worlds."

"A bean..." Emma murmured. "Is that what you'll use to leave Neverland?"

"Sadly beans are a rare item, even in our home land." Hook answered. "Most people go their whole life without ever seeing a bean, let alone get the chance to use one." He glanced at Smee, and grinned. "We owe a life's debt to Smee for his talents, don't we men?"

"Aye!" But it wasn't a particular enthusiastic agreement. Not all the pirates were happy about being in Neverland, as though some would have preferred to have taken their chances with the demon Hook sought to kill.

"Smee is not just good at cooking, you see." Rauol sitting next to Emma, smiled at the girl. "He has a rare talent for finding whatever one needs."

"Whatever one needs?" Emma repeated, her voice unable to hide the doubt in it.

"Well nearly whatever." Smee allowed, then sighed. "My talents have yet to be of any use towards finding the captain the thing he needs most."

"Pan has just hidden it too well." Hook said, slapping a hand on Smee's back. "But we'll get it one day."

"But how many of us will die before that happens?!" wondered a voice whose owner Emma could not see. Hook cast a sharp look around the room, and suddenly the pirates all busied themselves with eating.

"The Roger can only sail so fast, and not even it can out pace death." muttered that same voice.

"Talk like that is of a mutinous slant, Damien." Hook cautioned, singling out a pirate whose short cropped blonde hair was oil slick and dirty. "And not talk I will stand for."

"You know as good as the rest of us how we would have died if we had remained in the Enchanted Realm." Mason chided Damien. "Rumplestiltskin would have killed us all, have no doubts of that."

"Maybe...or maybe he would have been content with just the..."

"Wait." Emma interrupted, glancing at Hook. For once he wasn't intent on Emma, staring instead at the pirate Damien. "Rumplestiltskin?!"

"Finish your thought Damien." Hook's voice was low, reeking of so much danger even Emma couldn't help but react. The rest of the pirates were turning to look between them, many uneasy by either Hook or by what Damien was implying.

"It's a thought we've all had." Damien retorted, and even to Emma he sounded as though defensive. "Just not many have the courage to speak it."

"Those who do, know where they can go!" Smee's voice snapped into the conversation.

"You'll run out of pirates in no time, if you kill us for speaking the Gods' honest truth."

"There will be no killing tonight." Hook answered, even as Smee made protests against that decision. "Our ships are all running on what amounts to skeleton crews for each and every one. I'll not waste another man's life without good reason, though Damien you best take care with how loose and free your tongue becomes when you've had too much to drink."

"Now is not the time to be fighting." added Rauol, and gave a wink to Emma. "Not when we have such a pretty guest among us, and a reason to celebrate!"

Emma might have blushed at being called pretty, but she was too curious about Rumplestiltskin, and the pirates reason for celebration. "Celebrate?"

"It was a successful hunt." Hook answered, the look in his eyes daring anyone, even Emma to challenge him on this.

"Yes!" Smee was quick to lend support to his captain. "Our Roger is sitting deep in Neverland's seas tonight!"

"Roger must have meant a lot to you." Emma began, trying for a casual tone. "Was he someone that the demon killed?" The room became silent, Emma able to hear forks scraping on plates. The rum in Hook's glass sloshed, the pirate captain taking a long drink before asking.

"And why do you think Roger was anyone of any importance?"

"Well..." Emma felt like all eyes were on her now. "You named the ship after him...? He must have been a good friend."

Suddenly several of the pirates were laughing, sound coming back to the room as a scarred man who was missing one too many of his teeth, grinned at her. "The ship's not named after a person, girl! The ship's called the Jolly Roger because there is nothing our captain loves more than a good hard rogering of the..."

"That's enough Pierre!" Hook snarled, abruptly lurching out his seat. His glass went flying, thumping the prate Pierre in the forehead. It made Emma gasp, and turn to look at Hook who looked furious. There was a snicker behind her, and a different voice muttering about how Roger wasn't someone the pirates had had much time for lately. It only left Emma more confused, the girl sure she was missing the joke and not understanding why Hook was so upset.

Though upset was putting it mildly, Hook seeming furious. Emma would look to Smee in wordless confusion, the older man just shrugging his shoulders, at a loss to explain. Hook would actually move to leave the mess hall, then just as abruptly, change his mind, stalking back to the table. For one brief, all too frightening moment, Emma thought Hook was going to grab her, and maybe he would have, if not for the look that flashed in her eyes.

"If you'll come with me, we'll get you settled in for the night." Hook was offering her his arm. Emma wasn't sure she should take it, actually looking to Smee as though the older pirate could advise her what to do. But Smee was too busy looking with concern at Hook, to even notice Emma's worried confusion.

It was Rauol sitting next to her, that gave a slight nod, his hand moving as though he would pat hers in reassurance. The touch never came, the man just sighing. "Go with him, little one. Away from us bad influences."

"Bad influences?" Emma asked, and she didn't miss the snicker of several of the drunks. Why did she have the feeling they thought Hook was the worst of the bad influences on board this ship?

She didn't like that thought, nor the laughter which she suspected was partly at her expense. But she didn't take Hook's arm, simply rising out of her seat, and gesturing for him to lead the way. She followed several steps behind him, aware of the eyes boring into her, the men far too intent on what might happen next.

To her relief, and the pirates disappointment, nothing did happen. Hook was as always a gentleman, even though he radiated with anger. The anger set Emma on edge, the girl beyond nervous, and trying to cast for something to talk about. Unfortunately her mind was stuck on the topic of the ship's name, an almost morbid curiosity compelling her to speak.

"Just what did he mean...a good hard rogering?" It wasn't a term she was at all familiar with, Emma used to the far more course word fucking. Roger was so far removed from fuck, that Emma didn't even think in terms of sex when she heard it, and thus didn't understand why Hook seemed to choke on his own breath.

"It's nothing."

"It's CAN'T be nothing." Emma persisted. "It's something you liked enough to name your ship after."

"Leave it be Emma." Hook advised, his voice holding a growl to it. "You're years too early to appreciate a good rogering." And then the ruthless, heartless, fierce some pirate seemed to cringe, and all over what he had just snarled at her. Emma was left blinking, and then began to blush, suddenly thinking she might be a step closer to knowing just what roger meant, and why the pirate had liked doing it enough to name his ship over.

She didn't speak again, didn't try to think of anything, let alone about rogering and Hook in the same sentence, and yet she still couldn't stop blushing. She was in such an embarrassed daze, she barely remembered walking into a nearly empty room below deck, barely heard Hook explaining that this would be where she would spend the night. She wasn't aware of much of anything, right up until the sound of a lock being engaged clicked into her awareness. But by then it was too late, the pirate having left and locked her into the room for the night.

To Be Continued...

Why yes, I felt inspired tonight. Trying not to spoil ya'll with two chapters in one day/night. But I couldn't help it...was so inspired. Might even try to at least start eleven while I am still wide awake.

This chapter was...okay I didn't mean for it to be a Smee POV. but it worked for me to have some of his thoughts at the beginning. Also, while I was proofreading ten, I realized how fun it would be to write some kind of big dinner time meal scene with her and the pirates, which leads into something I have been eager to write. A moment that would happen in eleven. Near the start of eleven. New day will start, but before that a moment! XD I feel like I got closer to Emma being able to have this kind of moment.

I'm really liking this chapter...and was so glad I got to put that stuff about Jolly Roger and Hook liking to do that in here! I was fretting at one point I might not get that bit in. XD It cracks me up that bit of convo. XD

Not much else to say! Laters!

-Michelle

Shaded22, oh my goodness! *in shock but pleased* I don't know how to respond to that! *glows* Thank you so much! :D

Soulphur, aw thanks! I just love reading the reviews. So thank you for feeding me more! XD It didn't work exactly like I first thought, but I ended up really pleased with how this chapter came out. I hope you enjoyed ten too! :)

Zerousy, his sexy will not be denied! It is a brand all his own and it is unstoppable! XD We're so silly. I write fast when I feel uber inspired, and am not being stuck on my own doubts and insecurities...and not stuck on conversations. X_X After the way seven ended, it just felt like such a powerful statement (Him saying his heart was what the demon took plus the stuff that followed) and it stumped me sooooooooooo bad for eight. I'm kinda partying that nine, and better yet ten, proved so easy to flow from my head to the paper. Especially ten...I don't think I stumbled one time with the writing of ten.

Oh God,...first I was all aglow reading your review, and then I kinda went Shit. I don't want to spoil, but darn you picked up on it, didn't you? Reading between the lines, how careful I was stating what the Indian shamaness had said. *flails* Hopefully you haven't figured it all out, so that I can still surprise you when the time comes. *blinks* Not mad at you, got worried this sounds mad or something. I think one of my plot bunnies has been cozying up to you, whispering my plans. You been feeding them too many carrots. They'll fatten up in no time! XD *Being silly again*


	11. Chapter 11

To say Emma was furious to find herself locked in a room, would be an understatement. She was beyond furious, livid and seeing red, angry with Hook and with herself for falling for his trick. She felt stupid and worst of all, she felt betrayed, as though Emma had expected better of him. And really she had, Emma being lulled by Hook's play at being a gentleman pirate. She hadn't yet trusted him, but she had been well on the way to wanting to, Hook so unlike any man she had ever known.

"Such a fool." Emma grumbled, knowing she had let the captain's too pretty face blind her to the reality she faced. She wasn't his guest, but his prisoner, and being locked in a room only confirmed it. She hadn't been free, hadn't since the moment Hook's arms had first circled around her. Even when he hadn't been touching her, Hook had been binding her in other ways, distracting her with his behavior, then keeping her busy in Smee's kitchen. Emma had never had a single moment of unsupervised time, except for when she was locked behind a door of solid wood, just like she was now.

Her rage knew no bounds, Emma angry but also feeling helpless. Even hopeless. For how in the world was she to escape, when she couldn't even get past the door that stood barring her way? A door she wasn't strong enough to break, her hands scratched, even bloody from the many times she had pounded her fists against it. That fierce pounding had started out in protest, Emma growing increasingly violent the longer no one answered her screams. Until she was wild with fury, near mindless, hitting the door again and again and not noticing the hurt she was doing herself until after the fact.

Now, roughly an hour later, she paid the price. Her hands stinging, especially their ruined knuckles. But she didn't cry at the pain, though she did occasionally hiss. Pacing about the room, which had only one small porthole, and crammed full of boxes that had nothing she could use. Just an endless amount of gold and jewels, more treasure than Emma could ever imagine spending. Maybe enough treasure to make mean old mister dragon jealous. Certainly enough to make nearly every pirate aboard the Jolly Roger rich beyond their wildest dreams.

And here she was, Emma the latest spoil to be added to this room. But unlike the treasure, Emma wasn't content to just lay here. Already she was plotting, and though her hands hurt something terrible, Emma kept on going through each chest. Hoping she would find something of use, maybe even something she could use to pick the lock, or unscrew the door of it's hinges.

She'd still be searching hours later, when the sound of the lock being turned intruded into her awareness. Arm deep in a treasure chest, Emma couldn't pull her arms out fast enough to make a successful lunge towards the opening door. She heard Smee shout, heard the sound of things falling to the floor, fabric rustling, and something heavier thumping. Smee got her by her hair, and was none too gentle as he forcefully flung her back deeper into the room.

Hitting the floor, Emma immediately sprang up, her fingers curling, making her hands into weapons as she went for Smee's face. Again her hair was caught, the oldest of the pirates surprisingly scrappy given his age. Flung down a second time, Smee was shouting even as Emma charged.

"Damn you, don't just stand there!" Smee was saying, but he wasn't looking at the girl who was struggling against the hands restraining her arms. "Help me!"

"But it is ever so amusing to watch you try to avoid getting scratched." Came the silken tones of an accent that belong to the gypsy, Rauol.

"Damn your amusements and help me!" Smee snarled.

Emma thought she heard Rauol sigh, and then he was easily restraining her. She could feel the strength in his hands, felt him press her into his front, his arms going around her. Emma squirmed, trying to break free, but it was much like being held by Hook. The same yet not, Rauol strong but not smelling anywhere as pleasant as Hook did.

"By the Gods, Hook was right about you!" Unlike Smee, Rauol was admiring. "You have a pirate's fight within you!"

Emma growled. "Let go!"

Rauol didn't dignify that with a reply. And Smee was red faced and glaring, though the effect was ruined by his wheezing. "You little hellion, what is wrong with you?!"

"Where is your captain?!" Emma asked instead of answering. "Where is Hook?!"

"The captain doesn't have time to deal with a little girl's tantrums." Smee retorted. "Hell, none of us do."

"This is Neverland." Emma managed to point out, through clenched teeth. "Time is the one thing we all have in common."

"Some of us are just more patient than others." Rauol's accent pleasantly caressed her ears with a soft throaty laugh. "Patient and admiring of a woman's spirit."

"Admire all you like, just don't be forgetting our captain's threat." Smee had turned his glare to the man holding onto Emma.

"Threat?"

"It is not I who is the danger to our young guest." But Rauol's tone was biting with an unfriendly undertone to it.

Smee began to scoff at that, but Emma spoke over him, her own voice holding the bitter chill of winter to it. "Guest? I am you pirates' prisoner, and nothing more."

"You might be both."

Now Emma was the one to scoff. "Impossible. I can only be one or the other."

"Hook treats you too well to be a mere prisoner." Rauol pointed out.

"Oh yes, so well!" Emma snapped with a sarcastic slant to her voice.

"Child, you might never appreciate just how well." Smee growled. "When I think of the lengths he goes through to..."

"To what?!"

Smee shook his head, refusing to finish the thought out loud. "You should be more aware of your position, and the boons he grants you." She didn't understand, and let it show in her eyes. That lack of understanding made Smee sigh, the man shaking his head again. "You're the only female on a ship full of men who are starved for companionship. Do you think it at all wise to let you have freedom to run about, especially at night, tempting us?"

"I am not tempting anyone." But she had gone pale, Emma understanding what Smee was getting at.

"It's as much our protection as it is yours, that you have to be locked up." Rauol added. The fight was slowly ebbing out of Emma, the implications turning over in her mind. Leaving her chilled, frightened, the pirates no longer seeming so like grown up versions of her lost boys, but the dangerous men that they really were.

Frightened anew of the pirates, Emma almost hadn't registered properly what Rauol had said. "I understand about my protection, but yours?! What do you think I will do? Murder you all in your sleep?"

Smee snorted, as though he considered that a very real possibility. But it wasn't he who answered, but Rauol, the gypsy's voice without inflection as he spoke. "Our captain has made it very clear what will happen to those that try to take any liberties with you."

"What...what will happen?" A morbidly curious Emma asked.

"Your Peter Pan hasn't gotten all the stories wrong about Captain Hook." Was all Rauol would say. It left Emma suppressing a shiver, trying not to tremble in Rauol's arms.

Smee shot Rauol a look. "The captain is a kind man, but also a ruthless one. He's given you his protection, and that is something he won't take lightly. Or his men. Only a fool would push him to back up his threat."

Mind reeling, trying not to imagine just what Hook would do should someone, anyone, a board this ship get out of hand with her, Emma was barely aware of Rauol letting her go. Smee had backed up a step, wary of what she might do, but Emma made no move to lunge for him. A few seconds of inaction, and Smee exchanged a look with Rauol before nodding and walking to the door.

When Smee's back was turned, Rauol turned Emma towards him, using the pretext of her raw and bloody hands to touch her once more. "Bella...what have you done to yourself?"

Emma tried to jerk back her hands, and Rauol's gentle grip turned harsh, the man not allowing her to retreat.

"The captain was right." Smee's expression was grudging approval, the man aglow at the thought of Hook's smarts in anticipating the things that Emma would do.

"In this case I wish he wasn't." Rauol said, frowning at Emma.

"What was he right about?" Emma asked, then frowned at Smee's answer.

"The captain was sure you'd hurt yourself trying to get the door open. And you have!" Smee dropped what turned out to be blankets and a pillow at her feet. "Lucky for you, I have just what you need to patch you right up."

"And even luckier, it doesn't look like you'll need stitching done." Rauol said, and Smee scowled. "More than one man on this ship has scars from Smee's shoddy handling of a stitching needle."

It was then that Emma realized there was gauze and some kind of vial being removed form Smee's pockets. A vial that had some strong smelling liquid, some antiseptic that stung as it was poured over her cut up hands. She didn't cry out, but Emma did hiss, her face twisting in a grimace of pain. Rauol still held onto her wrists, his eyes full of approval that she hadn't screamed or started crying.

"The captain would be proud of you." The gypsy told Emma. She told herself it didn't matter, that Hook's opinion and high regard wasn't something she wanted. It didn't change the fact that a part of her purred inside, pleased at the thought of Hook being proud of how she handled Smee's treatment.

Except for the antiseptic liquid's sting, Smee's nursing was painless. The gauze was worked around her hands and fingers, the worst of her injuries that of her knuckles. Two flasks of fresh water would be given to her, one for drinking, one for her to keep on hand to cleanse her wounds every few hours. More gauze was left behind, Smee offering one last advice to her before moving to leave the room.

"Try to get some rest." His gruff voice wasn't above granting her a kindness. "Your next lesson is first thing in the morning."

Emma's heart brightened, her hopeful gaze settling on Smee. "You mean...?"

"Captain's orders." Smee said, then turned away from her. "You'll be helping me with every meal from now on."

Her heart swelled with joy, Emma practically aglow with how happy those orders had made her. But before she could say anything, think of anything, she heard Rauol's soft whisper.

"Beautiful."

Eyes growing huge, she turned to him, in time for Rauol to look directly at her. Forest green met the near black eyes of the gypsy pirate, the man giving her a far too grown up smile, as he caressed fingers over the backs of her hands. It wasn't as bad as he could have done, but it still felt wildly inappropriate, Emma just managing to stifle her gasp. She immediately jerked her hands free of a grip that was already letting her go, Rauol continuing to wear that smile as Emma turned a paranoid gaze to Smee's back.

The oldest pirate of all of Hook's crew, had a set of key rings he took out of his pant's pocket. "Just how many people have keys to this room?" She asked, trying not to betray how shaken she was by that private exchange with the gypsy.

"Just me and the captain." Smee answered, gesturing impatiently for Rauol to step out of the room. Rauol sauntered his way, Emma hiding her relief. Suddenly it didn't seem like such a bad thing that she was being locked up between meals.

"Don't worry. No one, and that includes the captain, will disturb your sleep."

But Smee didn't know how wrong he was! Because Rauol had succeeded in worming his way into her thoughts, his behavior unsettling her in all the ways opposite of how Hook had impressed her. Any good opinion Emma had been forming of the pirates, was now being reconsidered, Rauol's caress, and Smee's words, bringing back familiar fears. And though it had been centuries since she had had to truly worry in that vein of thought, the fears had never truly left her.

Feeling extremely vulnerable, Emma began rubbing the backs of her hands on her legs. Trying to scrub the memory of Rauol's caress from them, the gauze loosening and dislodging from her repeated motions. She barely paid it any mind, too busy thinking about how she looked, how she had been admired by the pirates. How the word pretty had been used several times. Suddenly she wished she hadn't been so brave as to meet with Hook's pirates, because killing and stealing wasn't the only thing Peter Pan had said they did.

Peter's claims came to her then, Emma trying not to dwell on them, and what could happen. But her mind didn't want to obey her, dozen upon dozen of thoughts and memories coming, leaving Emma overwhelmed to the point she sank down to the floor. But she didn't curl up into a ball and start crying. She refused to! And though it took a mighty effort on her part, Emma began to try to calm herself, trying to take comfort in the one pirate she wanted to trust.

Hook.

She might not understand the captain, but she understood at least some of his motivations. He wanted something from Peter, and until he got it, Hook would be determined to keep Emma safe. But it wasn't as simple as she was trying to make it, a part of her understanding that Hook didn't have to do anything but hold on to her. He could have let his pirates do whatever they wanted, and it wouldn't have mattered so long as she survived long enough for the exchange. Hook was protecting her, but she couldn't trust in that, in him. Adults never did anything without a reason, Hook would want something from her, and it hurt her to think that impressive man would prove to be just as evil and perverted as all the other grown ups in her life.

Used to being disappointed, Emma still fought the pain of her heart. She didn't understand that pain, that tight constricting feeling that centered in her chest. She didn't know it was her heart close to breaking, vehemently protesting the notions she was entertaining about Hook and her perceived ideas of his true nature.

The pain of her heart, and her thoughts, would keep Emma up long into the night, the girl tossing and turning, wrapped in a blanket that had come from the captain's own bed. She had recognized enough of his scent on the faded wool, that pleasant clean smell, with a hint of masculine spice that Emma had found far too appealing. Wrapped up in the blankets, Hook's scent was all around her, further pervading her thoughts with such a potent reminder of him. By the time morning came, and Smee unlocked the door to her prison, Emma was weak with exhaustion.

One look at the dark smudges under her eyes, and how pale her face was, and Smee had known she hadn't truly slept. It was an uncharacteristic sympathy that shown in his eyes, as he cautiously approached her, Emma allowing him to examine her hands. He tsked to see the gauze gone, and gently set about to wrapping fresh fabric over her self inflicted injuries.

"You have to be more careful." Smee was saying, and Emma could only nod her head in agreement. "The captain wouldn't like it if you were to fall sick with fever from an infection that could have been avoided!"

Wanting to recoil, Emma wondered again what the price of Hook's concern would be. She then realized Smee had been talking again, and that she had been in such a fog of her own worries and fears, that she had missed most of what the pirate had been saying.

"Young miss, are you all right?" Smee frowned when she nodded. He tried to put his hand to her forehead, and Emma almost fell over trying to scramble away backwards.

"What are you doing?!" Alarm was in her exclamation.

"Just wanted to make sure you didn't have the start of a fever." Smee grumbled.

"I'm just tired..."

"Maybe you should spend the morning in bed." Smee suggested. "It would do you a world of good to get more sleep."

"No...no...I want to have another lesson." insisted Emma. She avoided his eyes. "Peter could come for me at any moment...I want to learn as much as I can before that happens."

Smee was still frowning. "If you're sure..."

"I am." Emma said with a firm nod of her head. Smee looked doubtful, but allowed her to follow him out of the room. She felt sick, but hadn't lied to him. She was wanting another lesson, wanting to learn but also wanting to have access to the things in the kitchen. And not just the food, but the knives, Emma hoping to sneak one into her clothing. She hadn't had much of a plan, but escape was heavy on her mind.

Unfortunately it wasn't easy to get a hold of a knife under Smee's far too watchful eye. The old pirate was constantly keeping track of them, of how many there was, and how close Emma was to them. He noticed every time something was out of place, not just the knives, but the forks, Emma beginning to think she would never get her hands on one. The opportunity at last would come, when the very tattooed Mason appeared, with a personal request from the captain.

Emma quickly slid the dirty knife under her tunic, using her pant's tight waistband to hold it in place. She kept right on edge after Smee was done basically arguing with Mason over the captain's request, Emma not relaxing even after it became apparent that Smee was too upset to notice what she had taken.

"The captain be wanting to take a private breakfast with you." Smee told her, sounding exasperated and disapproving. "I told Mason it was out of the question, what with you feeling sick, but he wouldn't have any of it."

"Why does your captain want to eat with me?" Emma asked, watching as Smee's expression soured further.

"Don't know." The older man shrugged. "Can't guess even half of what's on the captain's mind lately."

"Can't guess, or won't?" Emma asked, noting Smee's surprise.

"You're right I won't." Smee nodded. "Captain Hook is a complicated man...and far smarter men then I have failed to understand him."

"But you...you worry about him." It wasn't much of a guess, given how she had seen Smee's worry first hand, and on repeated occasions.

"Of course I do!" Smee's voice was suddenly passionate. "After what he's been through...!"

"What HAS he been through?" Emma asked, curious though she told herself not to be.

Smee's expression closed up. "It's not my story to tell. Not really."

"Then I guess I should ask Hook himself?"

"Don't you be bothering Hook about this!" Smee snapped at her, his voice passionate with anger now. "He doesn't need you dredging up the past, or causing him any more pain."

"Then he should let me go." Emma stated firmly. "Because pain is all we'll cause each other."

Smee blinked slowly, and for a second Emma thought he was shaken by what she had said. "Oh aye, I don't doubt that." But he didn't clarify just what he meant with his agreement. Nor did he offer to help her escape, which Emma hadn't really expected, though one wild thought had entertained the idea that Smee would be so eager to spare Hook the pain of Emma, that he might just be willing to look the other way during an attempt to escape.

Smee was just about the only one Emma had thought might let her escape. The others simply admired her too much, while Smee seemed to barely tolerate her! Barely became nothing, Smee unable to stomach the idea of Emma having another private meal with his captain. The older man would slam about the kitchen, Emma trying her best not to flinch every time he banged a pot, or threw a spoon into an already full sink. But his anger worked to her advantage, Smee never noticing that a knife had gone missing.

Emma didn't yet know what she was going to do with that knife, but she took comfort in feeling the cool blade of it against her side. It might not buy her a way off the ship, but her hopes was that it would protect her from Rauol and any other pirate that decided to ignore Captain Hook's threat. It might even protect her from the captain himself, Emma prepared to use it should Hook decide to reveal his true reasons for securing her safety aboard his ship. But as prepared as she was, Emma couldn't ignore the way she didn't want to have to hurt Hook. It was a want she hoped wouldn't cause her to hesitate, Emma fearing she would have only one chance to escape. She didn't know how wrong she was, that escape had never been an option the second she had looked into Captain Hook's eyes.

To Be Continued!

Yes, I am on a roll...fic really being alive in my head right now. Bad thing is, some of the scenes that are so vivid in my head are far in the future of the fic...distracting me from it's present scenes. *hangs head*

Also, I didn't get to my moment. I'll spoil. A scene that's been very vivid in my mind, is that Emma would find out it was bedding from Hook's own bed, and like rub the fabric of the blanket over her lips. But I guess I can do it a little later with a shirt of his. XD

Overall I really like how this chapter came out! Flowed pretty easy, though I started stumbling a little bit when Smee came to get her for the cooking lessons. I want to start on the next chapter after I post this one, but debating on whose POV it will be. Maybe I will do a Hook Emma double POV! XD

-Michelle

One Shot At Life, thank you! I'm so happy that people enjoyed the part about why the Jolly Roger is named that! Heh, it was one of my conversation goals, to have that be in the dinner time scene. So I am glad I got to work it in, especially since at one point I worried it wasn't gonna fit in! XD Oh man, where Peter Pan shows up, that scene is so vivid in my head tonight. I had to expand my notes to try and write down everything I was imagining. Though sadly, the scenes I see so clearly in my head, never translate exactly like in my mind when I try to write them down on paper. I'm not hating on my writing, just I wish I could show how much more awesome some of these moments could have been! XD

Soulphur, I spoil when I can! I've been feeling very inspired since yesterday...whoo! So it means a lot of updates so far. Dont think tonight will be a double update as I am catching up talking with a friend...but I want to at least start twelve and maybe have it ready for Tuesday! I just love when creativity is flowing! :D

Zerousy, aw thank you! :D Yes POVS with more than one character can be tricky. So I am pleased when they go well for me. *loved ten so much* I'm thrilled that people enjoyed the whole jolly rogering thing! That might be my fave part of the chapter personally! I got to work on Smee somehow softening to Emma, at least a little. And of course more of Emma softening again to Hook! XD

Ah glad it didn't sound mad of me, and that you haven't figured out everything in regards to what Hook needs. :D I like keeping you on your toes guessing. XD No wonder my plot bunnies are so fat..stealing carrots from yours! I must punish them if they stop biting me...XD

Chamberlin of Music, oh thank you! I really appreciate and enjoy when people take the time to review. Love reading the comments and thoughts my updates might give people. And yes, lot of questions to be answered...It's gonna be a waiting game on that regard...some things we can of course learn from Hook's thoughts and private guesses about Peter, but other things are things that would be revealed as Emma learns them. And sometimes the reveals might lead to more questions...I still think there will be at least one Peter Pan POV...like a chapter that is a double POV between him and Emma. I have this one chilling thought, promise that has to be in his thoughts!

Angelfan984, aw filler? I have to look at nine again. I just remember how happy I was that it was so easy to write! So I would have to do another rereading to see if it has the vibe you got or not. But thank you for both reviews! You're right, we're still far off from the growing up...but it will happen! And yes, some drama for next chapter too...unless something throws off my plans in the scene with Hook and Emma. There will be some conversations, and of course at least one thing that will raise a question...well maybe not right away, but it is something that will be repeated in the fic, leaving Emma to wonder why, and the readers to wonder why too! I have been like so excited but so impatient, cause I know what is coming especially for later in the fic, and it's so hard cause I have to wait until I get the story to that part. *passes out from impatience*


	12. Chapter 12

It took time to cook enough porridge to satisfy the Jolly Roger's pirates. Time that had Emma scurrying about the kitchen area, fetching the things Smee had asked for, and tending to little chores that didn't always have to do with the making of the meal. Emma got to make a start on last night's dirty dishes, help sweep the floor, even be treated to the experience of tasting things as Smee tried to get the flavoring just perfect.

Smee seemed adept at figuring out just the right amount of spices to add, Emma's face scrunching only once in response to something that seemed too red hot a taste. Mostly the foods she tried, were bland until Smee added enough to give it the perfect flavor, and already Emma was eyeing his little rack of spices and seasonings with some interest. Maybe too much interest, Smee keeping as watchful an eye on them as he had on the knives, the man right to worry she might try to pocket one of his vital jars of flavoring magic.

It was a very real concern, Emma wanting that rack and it's little treasure trove for herself. She wasn't in any way stupid, and could understand that despite all she was learning, if she didn't have the proper tools to utilize, then the other preparations wouldn't matter. The meals would still fall flat of the perfection that was Smee's cooking.

She was especially interested in the cinnamon he was dosing the captain's porridge with, the ingredient sweet and pleasing to the tongue. Smee grudgingly allowed her to use some in her own bowl, both Emma and the captain forgoing the bacon that was taking up space in most of the porridge set aside for the rest of the Jolly Roger pirates.

Those pirates were shuffling into the ship's dining area, a large room Emma had learned was actually called the mess hall. As large a group as there was, it still wasn't enough people to fill the whole hall for Hook hadn't lied when he said the five ships under his command were all being manned by skeleton sized crews. The pirates still made a lot of noise, as though making up for the loss of their partners, the men surprisingly noisy given it was morning and that many were most likely hung over from last night's revelry. It didn't stop them from stamping their feet and pounding their fists on the tables, the men impatient for a chance at Smee's porridge.

They made enough noise to frighten Emma, the girl almost glad to have been invited for a somewhat private meal elsewhere. She didn't feel up to facing this group, not now that old fears had been roused, Emma all too eager to slip out the back way of the kitchen. The pirate Mason led the way, actually carrying the tray with the bowls of porridge on them for her. She didn't think too much of that act of kindness, assuming it was the fact her legs weren't always yet steady during the ship's worst bobbing than to think it had anything to do with the man thinking to win the attention of the pretty girl with an attempt at chivalry.

He wasn't the only one thinking in that vein of thought, many of the pirates unable to help themselves. Some did it unknowingly, acting surprisingly courteous for pirates, while others would try to worm their way into her heart with blatant overtures of their interest. Of course in the coming hours, the more blatant and bold admirers would soon get a reminder of why they shouldn't court Emma OR their captain's displeasure.

But such displays were still a ways off, Captain Hook not yet aware of what had transpired between his guest and one of his own pirates. If he had known, Hook would never have allowed Rauol to linger by his side, the dark gypsy's brown eyes briefly flashing black when he saw Mason approaching with Emma. Fortunes favored Rauol that Hook's own gaze had been on Emma, the captain not noticing how his friend eyes had briefly run dark with flared passion. But Emma had, her steps slowing down until she was shuffling almost uncertainly to a stop.

"Greetings Emma." Hook smiled pleasantly enough. In his hand he held a collapsible telescope, the man gesturing with it for Emma to make her way forward. "Good morning to you."

"Morning." She mumbled, refusing to deem it good or bad. Her eye flicked in Rauol's direction, the man's teeth flashing with his smile. "I thought you wanted to have breakfast with me, captain. A PRIVATE breakfast."

"Rauol was just about to leave us." Hook's words nearly tore a sigh of relief from Emma. And still she didn't make a move to follow Mason up the three steps to the elevated part of the ship's deck.

"Ah, I see how it is." Rauol hadn't lost his smile. "Always a way with the pretty ones." He tsked, nudging Hook with his elbow. "Big or small, they always want the captain to themselves." Hook had lost most of his smile, and Emma nearly turned red with mortification as Rauol winked at her.

"The only thing I want from your captain..." Emma managed to sputter out. "Is for him to set me back on the mainland, so I can return to my brothers!"

"Those savages?" Rauol actually scoffed. "A jewel like you is wasted on them."

"That's enough Rauol." The captain's hook was at his throat, the blue eyed pirate not having appreciated anything the gypsy had been insinuating. "You and Mason may both go."

Rauol hadn't the wisdom to pale, as though he doubted that Hook would carry through on his threat. Emma wondered if he was that stupid, or just that horny, Emma backing to the side of the steps to avoid both Mason and Rauol's passage past her. The gypsy tried nothing else, though Emma's skin crawled enough that she had to force her hands to remain at her sides, rather than reach for the knife hidden under her tunic's top. When she turned to glance at Hook, she saw he was watching her. It left her doubly glad she had kept still, that she hadn't betrayed the knife under her clothes.

"Come here, Emma." It was a command not a request, Emma slowly making the way up the three steps. Hook was holding out the telescope to her but she didn't reach for it. Instead Emma cast a quizzical look at it, and him.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" She asked, and was all the more confused by his answer.

"Neverland." A smile that wasn't in any way happy was given to her. "Just humor me, please."

She hesitated another half minute, before finally reaching for the telescope. Hook guided her to stand to the right of him, the man leaning on the railing with his elbows, his back to the mainland. Emma gave him a doubting look, before she peered through the end of the telescope. She wasn't sure what she was suppose to truly see, and Emma didn't think for one minute Hook had spied Peter returning.

Except for the sound of the ship groaning against the waves rocking it, the deck was quiet. Nearly all the pirates were now below deck, save for the one up in the crow's nest, keeping a watchful eye on the skies. One other pirate stood ready, standing near a large bell he would ring at the first sign of trouble. That bell would ring throughout the ship, bringing the pirates running to take their positions up on deck. But for this morning, the bell would remain quiet, the only true disturbances inside the hearts of both Captain Hook and Emma Swan.

"What about Neverland am I suppose to see?" Emma asked, more than ready to set down the telescope.

"I want you to describe it to me." Hook said, which gave Emma pause, the girl turning to glance at the pirate. He still had his back to the mainland, and his eyes were closed, hiding their brilliant blue color.

Emma frowned, completely confused. "You KNOW what it looks like."

"I want to hear it from you." Was Hook's answer. She stared at him longer, and then his eyes opened. Blue met green, Emma unsettled for a reason different than that of the way she had felt when Rauol looked at her. "Emma please." He said, and she had a feeling Hook wasn't a man used to asking for what he wanted. "Just indulge me in this."

She couldn't help but shiver at the thought of indulging Hook in any way, but Emma eventually shrugged. She raised the telescope again, and peered through it's glass. "I see the main land." She said softly. "It's as beautiful to me now as it was that first morning."

"HOW is it beautiful?" Hook wanted to know.

It was a question Emma had to think about before answering. "The colors for one thing." She finally said. "More vibrant than anything that passes for natural in my world. As if the rainbows my brothers chase have blessed this land with their kiss." She let Hook adjust the magnification of the telescope's lens, but she still couldn't see inside the forest. "The forest with it's mighty oaks, the healthy trees that tower like giants, and protect us from discovery. The gold sandy beaches that slowly give way to the flowers that pour out of the forest."

The words began to pour out of her, Emma speaking warmly, almost lovingly of Neverland. She didn't just talk about the scenery she saw, Emma beginning to describe some of the animals that wandered the borders between forest and beach. She even talked of the sky, of the fluffy marshmallow like clouds, and the few stars that lingered even though it was well into the morning, their light and color like twinkling jewels. Even the sky itself, with it's rainbow, was picturesque, holding not just the typical blues, but some pinks and pale purples, mixing together to provide a pretty pastel world to float through.

She talked but Emma didn't understand, and she told him as much. But instead of explaining, Hook only offered her more cryptic words, telling her with a nod that she still saw Neverland with a child's wonder.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emma demanded, her hand clenching harder around the telescope. "How do you see it?"

"It doesn't matter what I see.' Hook told her. "It is enough that you see it that way."

"I don't understand." Emma complained.

The smile he gave her was sad. "It's my hope you never do."

"That's not right." Emma felt close to whining. "You can't ask something of me and then not explain why."

Hook took the telescope from her. "I am not accustomed to explain myself."

"The captain's right?" She asked, and Hook nodded. "But...that shouldn't apply to me!" She flushed at Hook's look, the man quirking an eyebrow at her. She wasn't in any way trying to insinuate she deserved preferred treatment, or that she was special. She should be nothing, mean nothing to him, except as a bargaining chip to use against Peter Pan.

"Whether you are my guest or my prisoner, there are some things even you will not be privy too." Hook told her, and the telescope disappeared into his coat's pocket. "It's...better this way."

"Better?" Emma's eyes narrowed. "Why do I get the feeling better is not the word you would use."

"Whatever the case, better IS the word I used." Hook finished firmly, then gestured for her to sit on the steps. She glared before doing so, and found Hook sitting down next to her, the tray between them. He didn't immediately reach for a bowl, studying her instead. "You did not sleep well?"

"Being locked up with no real bed will do that." Emma retorted, and reached for a bowl. It wasn't as hot, now warmed down enough that she could hold it in her hands. Better yet, she could sip at the porridge, making a small sound of pleasure at the taste. Hook copied her actions as best he could, making it look easy to balance the bowl with one hand.

"I apologize for the conditions, but I hadn't exactly expected to have a young lady spend the night." Hook told her, then sighed. "A pirates ship is no place for a girl...especially at night..."

"Then let me go!" snapped Emma.

"After Pan gives me what I need."

"To kill your demon?" Emma then scoffed. "Why would Peter have such a thing? If your demon is that dangerous..."

"He is."

"Then the last thing Peter would want is to have something that would cause this demon to target his family!"

"A point you might want to make to your Pan." Hook retorted. "Maybe then he would see reason..."

"Perhaps it's you who need to see reason, captain." She hissed. "Hunting children, using them against Peter...That boy cares for and protects us. He wouldn't keep endangering us just to deny you your long sought revenge! He'd have already handed over this...weapon is it? Handed it over to you long ago simply to stop the problems you and your pirates cause!"

"One would think that, wouldn't they?" Hook said to Emma's surprise. "But your Pan has a use for everyone that crosses his paths. He won't rid Neverland of the pirates, not so long as we somehow prove useful to him..."

"Useful? Listen to yourself! You're talking as if Peter is some master manipulator!" She watched him blink, slowly and repeatedly. Hook then guarding his expression from her. "He's just a boy." She said it, but uncertainly.

Hook slowly nodded. "Just a boy." He didn't sound like he quite agreed with her on that. "And magic strong enough to slay a demon shouldn't remain in a child's hand."

"Nor should it end up in the hands of blood thirsty pirates!" Emma snapped.

"Not even when it's the pirates that will do the most good with it?" Hook asked her. She didn't answer, busying herself with drinking down the porridge. "Emma...think of the people that will be saved, the people I can help. If I'm allowed to use that magic to kill that demon..."

"Not if you're doing it for all the wrong reasons..."

"That's a child's way of thinking." Hook grumbled. "It shouldn't matter what reason I hunt Rumplestiltskin, as long as I put an end to him, every one in my land will benefit."

"You most of all?" She challenged, watching as his face became more guarded.

"Hardly." Hook let out a deep sighing breath. "While revenge is a fine for motivation, it won't make me happy once achieved."

"Then why bother with it at all?" Emma asked. Hook didn't immediately answer, looking like he was brooding on how to respond to her question. "Captain?"

"Some things cannot be let go." He finally said. "And sometimes it merely an issue of meeting the demands of satisfaction."

Emma blinked, not sure she understood the difference between being happy and being satisfied. "Which...which is it for you?" She asked out loud.

"I think both."

"You THINK?" she echoed in disbelief.

"I can't let go..." Hook told her, but he was looking down into the bowl in his hand. As if staring at a vision amidst the liquidly porridge meal. "And I won't be satisfied until that demon is dead. No..." He scowled. "Rumplestiltskin's death will only satisfy one need...the others shall remain. The loss of what he stole from, it's one I don't think I can ever recover from. He's not just denied me my heart, he's stolen my future..."

Sitting on the steps, next to the scowling Captain Hook, Emma shivered. She had barely touched the porridge in her bowl, distracted by the pirate, and what he was saying. She still made no move to eat, instead letting the bowl warm her hands, Emma feeling a chill that wasn't quick to go away. Because Emma felt as though she understood him in the moment. She might not have lost her heart, but she knew too well the feeling of thinking her future stolen, her rightful future. Before Peter Pan had brought her to Neverland, all Emma had thought she had had to look to was an inevitable fate, an inescapable abuse. She had known that her best efforts wouldn't be enough, that eventually, someone would hurt her worse than she had already suffered. The only question had been would it have been the boys her own age, her so called brothers, or one of the foster fathers who changed as often as Emma was shifted from house to house.

"The future can be changed." She whispered, Hook turning to peer at her. "It's not set in stone..."

"And what would you know of it, lost one?" Hook asked, his own voice a soft murmur. "You who live only in the present, determined to never grow up and seize a future..."

"I know what I faced..." Emma told him in a moment of raw honesty. "And what Peter helped saved me from."

A choked sound from Hook, his expression far too troubled by what she had said. She felt her cheeks warm, but it was a humiliated heat, Emma feeling she had revealed more of herself than she had ever wanted to, to the pirate.

Hook stopped her when she tried to lurch upright, both bowls of porridge hitting the wooden planks of the deck hard. The remains of the porridge and cinnamon splashed by their feet, Hook's hand gripping Emma's by the wrist.

"Emma..." He stared searchingly at her, Emma torn between freezing in place, and attempting to jerk free of his hand's grip. "What...?"

"We all have a past." Emma managed to say. "Things better left unmentioned."

"You don't wish me to pry further." Hook realized, and actually let go of her wrist. Emma retreated a few steps away from him, her own expression wary.

"We each have our own private burdens to bear..." She began. "Neither one of us needs to be weighted down with the addition of each other's."

"You're very wise for your age." Hook noted with a nod of his head.

"I don't know about that. I know merely when to be on guard, and when to trust my instincts."

"And what do your instincts say about me?" Hook asked, still sitting on the stairs. Emma bit at her lip instead of answering, and though she wanted to, she didn't look away. Emma knew what she thought, knew to be on guard. But her instincts didn't warn her half as much as they should where Captain Hook was concerned. And that was perhaps the most troubling thing of all, Emma wondering if she was wrong about Hook, or simply wanted to believe that because she found him so handsome to look at. Her skin hadn't crawled at his touch, she wasn't reacting to him the way she had Rauol. Captain Hook left her unsettled, troubled, but it was Rauol and others like him, who left Emma disturbed. Frightened even, Emma glad her instincts still worked enough to ascertain most threats aboard this ship. Most but not all, Emma shivering again as she looked at Captain Hook and wondered if he was just a wolf playing at being a sheep.

To Be Continued...

I feel...frustrated. Not too badly. I wrote like 15 kb of this Thursday going into Friday, but then had to go sleep. I finished the rest tonight...but I'm not feeling particularly happy with what I wrote tonight. Also couldn't...well a change of plans in one of the things I wanted to happen...it involved the knife she stole. It'll still happen just not right now...but I got other plans that was able to play out like I wanted in here, especially the telescope thing. :)

I had a really crappy week sleep wise. Which is why I didn't try to start writing this until Thursday night. I was barely sleeping, and when I'm on an insomnia binge, it's not very conducive to me being productive writing wise. and then I think my bad headache came from all that bad sleep. X_X

Ay yi yi...so I'm glad to have this chapter over with...even if I don't like a lot of the second half of it. XD Now I think I'll relax after proofreading, though really I feel kinda groggy. But I was determined to finally finish this particular chapter. X_X

-Michelle

Soulphur, aw thanks! Glad you take time to comment even if you don't know what to say! It's appreciated, and I can relate. I don't always know what to write for a review of someone else's work either, except to say I like it or thought it was good. Sometimes I can write a better review than that, but most times...my brain must shut down. XD And you got your Emma POV again! Though I'm pretty determined to make 13 a Hook POV. He's got some things to process...but we'll see how it goes. How I feel when I try to sit down and write it.

Zerousy, oh my! Is it even possible to die from happiness? XD I'm happy to read that though! And yay! Glad you liking the chapters, even if I ended up slowing down again. Bad sleep, it sucks for my writing attempts! Rauol..I got some plans for him, but maybe not as bad as people might be thinking. XD Some of it comes wants to come into play right away, while others bits would happen later. As for Hook's sheets...uh...I was writing it that she knew it had to be his, because she smelled his scent on them. *blushes and thinks I failed to convey that right*

Chamberlin Of Music, thanks! Thank you so much! Yep, she's got to think more and see more...not just about the pirates, but about Peter and Neverland. :O Smee's so overprotective of Hook...I'm not sure how much he can warm up to Emma, considering how I had planned something later in the fic...but we;ll see... Emma might win over Smee anyway! XD

Justwriter2, oh man...the show gives me so many plot ideas. Really I think Peter wants to seduce/coax Emma into becoming a child or teenager. I think he needs her and Herny...I found it strange that he stressed he had the truest believer AND the heart of the truest believer. I mean why stress the two as two separate things? So Henry might be the truest believer but the heart could be Emma!

So I really think Emma will turn into a younger version, and then her parents will be conflicted, cause they might not want her to go back to being an adult. You know a second chance for them to raise her. And of course we have her two love interests Neal and Hook who will want to turn her back into an adult. Even if this doesn't happen on the show, I would like to someday write out what the show was inspiring me to think would happen!

I would not be surprised about him maybe letting Bae go, so that Bae could go out and encounter Emma as an adult, and make Henry!

As for my fic, well I did say there would be some naughty dreams, though really what I meant for her to do, was just like rub the blanket over her lips, like this weird indirect kiss. So not that naughty but on it's way to being naughty, and I still want to try it with one of his shirts instead. XD

The Indian Shamaness will have a speaking role later in the fic...but her words won't be explained until then. As for periods...I hadn't been thinking of that. I had been thinking of other ways she would start to show signs of growing up. One of which was strongly hinted at in this very chapter! And I love, love the dream idea you wrote about for him to have. :)

Angelfan984, I don't blame you. He's too interested...though some of the others are also too interested...I'm pouting now cause something I couldn't get to work right in this chapter (Cause of how the conversation was going), well cause it didn't happen. So it means I'm rearranging my timeline of WHEN certain things play out on the pirate ship, especially with Rauol and Hook enforcing his threat to the pirates. X_X On one hand it hopefully gives me some more content to work for...with this rearranging. I'm still aiming for Peter to be gone a week...though that could be shortened or lengthened depending on Hook and Emma's relationship.


	13. Chapter 13

Not for the first time since meeting her, did Hook find himself feeling unsettled by young Emma Swan. By the mystery of her, by her presence, and by a past he could only guess at. A past she only grudgingly allowed him hints of, each word she let slip making Hook envision the worst. And with each imagining, the anger surged, Hook wanting to throttle someone, anyone for hurting this girl. He was left wanting to vanquish her demons, to chase the haunted look from her eyes, as though Hook wanted to be the hero the girl clearly thought Pan to be. And as laughable a thought as it was, that was in effect exactly what Peter Pan was to Emma and her brothers, the lost boys. Not that even half of them came from truly abusive situations, Owen certainly hadn't.

Or rather, if Owen had, enough time had passed for the boy to forget his home of origin, and the situation he might have faced there. But Emma hadn't, the look that came to her eyes whenever she became worried, or felt threatened, proving as much. It was a wonder she was able to look upon Neverland and see what Pan wanted. It was a downright miracle that Emma hadn't lost her child's sense of wonder. Because abuse did things to children, made them view the world differently, made them grow up faster. And Emma was already showing wisdom the likes of which only harsh lessons would have granted one so young. Lessons Hook himself knew, and still ignored, until Emma bit out a harsh reminder for him.

"We each have our own private burdens to bear." She had said. "Neither one of us needs to be weighted down with the addition of each other's."

She was right, but it didn't make it any easier to accept! Smee would accuse him of being foolhardy, would say Hook was ignoring, maybe even forgetting the lessons learned at Peter Pan's hands. The lessons spilt in the life's blood of Owen and children like him. But Hook wasn't sure how to switch off his heart, how to keep from becoming invested in Emma and her well being. In allowing her to remain on his ship, Hook inevitably tied them together, the man curious, downright drawn to her and the pained air she had about her.

Which just left him thinking he was a glutton for misery. Because what else was he inviting but that, Hook knowing he wasn't going to be able to save her. Not from her past, and not from Pan, and it was a small miracle that he and his pirates hadn't done any further damage to her. Not yet at least, though Hook was aware of the way things could go wrong, how easily it would be for one slip up to send Emma along the path to growing up.

It was inevitable, it WOULD happen though Hook would fight to keep it from happening while Emma was aboard his ship. His task would be a lot easier if only Hook wasn't so curious about her, about everything she said and did not, the girl reluctant to truly share anything about herself. But what she didn't say might speak even louder than some of what she did, and Hook couldn't seem to get his thoughts out of this pattern!

Worried his tormented inner thoughts was showing on his face, Hook still couldn't stop staring at Emma. He saw her worry at her lip, teeth biting at that flesh, the girl fidgeting in place as she considered his last question to her. He supposed it was answer enough, the girl's instincts most likely screaming warnings about him to her. Warnings she'd be right to listen to, because no good could come to Emma of her continued association with Hook.

Wondering if Emma would be strong where he was weak, Hook's smile was sad, almost bitter as he got up off the steps. She was watching him, wary as always, but not to the point she backed up. His intent wasn't on her for once, Hook getting down on one knee, busying himself with the remains of the broken bowls. One had shattered almost completely upon impact with the deck of the Jolly Roger, but the other hadn't fared so badly. A bit of a glue, and it would be as good as new, Hook using the mostly intact center to hold the pieces of it and it's broken twin inside it.

"Smee will be annoyed with me." Hook murmured, not betraying his surprise when Emma's shadow fell directly over him. "For letting the bowls break."

"It was as much my fault as yours." Emma told him, slowly kneeling down before him. Some of her hair swept forward over her shoulders, the girl helping Hook to gather the broken remains of the bowls. There was no helping the porridge, not until they had a rag with which to clean it up. And in the heat of the morning sun, it wouldn't take long for the porridge to dry into harden lumps on the deck. Yet another reason for Smee to be annoyed, the older man liking to keep the ship in sparkling clean condition.

"They broke because I grabbed you." Hook pointed out, still intent on the mess at their feet.

"I didn't have to drop mine in response..." Emma protested. "I could have held on. I do have two hands after all..." She trailed off with an appalled sound, Hook smiling more as he looked up at her. "I...I shouldn't have said..."

"There's no harm in pointing out the obvious. I am at a disadvantage where hands are concerned."

"You don't behave as though it's that great a disadvantage." Emma still looked aghast. "I...I mean...I haven't exactly seen you struggling to make up for the lack of your left hand..."

"I've had roughly three hundred years to get used to only having one hand." Hook told her. "I couldn't help but adjust, and learn how to compensate for what others would perceive a weakness."

" A weakness..." Emma shivered as she said it. "Yes...Yes I can imagine how that would be bad to have on a ship full of pirates."

"Indeed." Hook gave a quick nod, letting Emma take the bowl and the pieces inside it in her hands. "I won't lie and say there wasn't a few of my crew who tried to take the reigns of leadership from me because of my...situation." He wasn't smiling then, because it hadn't been just his hand's loss that had let his crew think Hook weak. His grief over Mila had been near crippling, and only the fact that he reacted like the wounded animal he had been, had kept Hook violent enough to dispatch those who had challenged his authority and right to leadership in those first days in Neverland.

"But you...overcame such problems." Emma guessed correctly. There was a look in her eyes, an almost cautious admiration then.

"I'm good with my sword." Hook told her. "And even better with my hook." Her eyes glanced at the hook in question, but she didn't shiver this time.

"I've heard the stories."

"Have you?" Hook asked. "From who? Pan?" Emma nodded. "You can't always believe the things that boy tells you." scoffed Hook, unable to help himself.

Her brow furrowed. "But he's right about this, isn't he? You have killed with that hook. You've gutted and mutilated countless many."

"I wouldn't say THAT many." Hook grumbled. "No more than a dozen, a dozen and a half tops." It left her blinking, as though she was confused and surprised by what he said.

"I can't tell if you're joking or being serious."

Hook smiled at her, allowing a teasing light to enter his eyes. "Maybe one day you'll be able to."

"I don't think I'll be around long enough to ever know you that well." Emma said, and the way she phrased it upset him, though he hid his reaction behind a forced smile.

"I guess that depends on how long Pan takes to come trade for you." But the longer she stayed here, the more she was put at risk, Hook trying his best not to brood and failing as he rose to stand.

"You know I don't believe Pan has what you're looking for..." She stood as well. "Or that he'll trade you it for me."

"It's enough that I believe." Hook told her.

"But even you don't believe enough to think he'll make it easy for you to get." Emma noted, and Hook nodded.

"He hasn't. I don't expect much to change even now...but where my belief fails, my hopes live on."

"Hopes?" she echoed it as a question. "Because you think I'm special? To Peter I mean." Emma hurriedly clarified. "As if I am anymore special to him than any of the other members of our family?"

Hook wasn't sure how to answer that, without upsetting the very balance of the carefully crafted lies and illusions Peter Pan maintained. Lies that Emma's own life depended on, the girl needing to keep believing if she was going to avoid growing up any time soon.

"It's what I'm counting on." Hook finally muttered in a very gruff manner. He took the bowl from her, and began to walk away. But it wasn't that easy to be rid of her, Emma not only following close behind him, but persisting in the line of thought that had been opened to her.

"Because I'm a girl?" He didn't have to look at her to guess she was frowning. Not when he could hear it in her voice, the girl troubled and trying to figure out an oddity she hadn't given much thought to before. "Because I'm the only girl among the Lost Boys..." Hook said nothing, and still she turned defensive. "It's not that strange. Is it...?"

"I'm sure Pan has his reasons..." Hook said, ill at ease with how Emma continued to fret and wonder along this troubling vein of thought.

"But why would he only have boys?" Emma asked.

"Well..." Hook had to think fast. "Look at the life the lost ones lead. It's not one many girls would think they'd enjoy."

"And that means what exactly?"

"It's been my experience that where boys prefer rough play and being outside, girls are more apt to tea parties and dress up, playing with dolls." Hook told her. "I don't think many of them would choose the lifestyle of a lost boy, not if it meant giving up the comfort of their home life."

"Comforts..."Emma mused, her tone such that Hook felt gutted to hear it. "I guess it makes some sort of sense. Most girls wouldn't have reason or a desire to want to run away, or to go off on an adventure..."

Hook felt certain the odds were such that they favored that Emma had been running from something when she had chosen to go off with Peter Pan. "That seems to be the way of things, no matter the world." Hook said out loud. "Boys long for adventure, while girls typically care for the creature comforts of home and family."

"Must be nice..." She said, sounding wistful. Hook risked a glance at her, and saw the look in her eyes matched her tone. Hook was far too curious, wanting to know more, longing for it. But ever so afraid to ask. For her sake and his, Hook turning away.

"I wouldn't know." He said out loud to her wistful tone. She made a questioning sound, and Hook knew he shouldn't talk anymore to her. But the can of worms had been opened, the damage already being done. Maybe nothing could stop Emma from wondering the reasons behind her being in Neverland, existing as the only lost girl. But perhaps he could distract her for a time, and if talk about his own youth could accomplish that, then Hook would gladly do it.

"What do you mean by that?" Emma was asking out loud.

"I wasn't always a pirate, you know..." Hook had to smile at her gasp, and the way Emma hurriedly tried to protest that that wasn't what she had been assuming. "Once...Once I was nothing more than a boy." But that had been spoken with a bitter edge to his voice, harshening the words rather than make them wistful.

There was silence for a few blessed moments, Emma not speaking as she allowed Hook to lead her past the still noisy mess hall, to the rear entrance of the galley. The kitchen was empty, the broken bowls set down on a counter top as Hook looked around to see what could be scrounged up to make up for the ruin of their breakfast.

There was only a few spoonfuls of porridge left, far too little to bother with scraping the bottom of the pot. Hook settled on grain sweetened by milk and a spoonful of sugar, a simple enough fare managed in quick time.

"It's hard to imagine you as a boy." Emma finally said, after Hook had handed her her own bowl of the cereal grain.

"It's not a time I look back on fondly." Hook admitted to her, leaning against a countertop.

"No?" She asked, and he could see the questions in her eyes.

"My home life wasn't ideal." Hook admitted. "Oh, on the outside, I suppose we painted a pretty picture. We were rich, and titled, with a grand house and many servants. But what went on behind closed doors..."

Her eyes had grown wide with shock, Emma forgetting to eat as she stared at him. Hook sighed, fighting the memories. "My parents weren't exactly loving...with me or each other." But that was putting it mildly, Hook remembering the beatings, his father not caring who suffered the lash, be it his son or his wife. Often times, his mother had had to heap on ample bits of make up to cover her own bruises and that of her son's.

"Many of my memories of that time..." Hook shook his head. "The people meant to love and protect us the most, can do the most damage." The fighting and yelling echoed in his head, culminating in the death of Hook's mother. "After my mother...passed, there really was no reason for me to stick around."

"You were loyal to her." Emma noted.

"We were loyal to each other." Hook corrected. "Though there was little we could do to help each other. And once she was gone, rather then continue to endure my father's abuse, I chose to ran away." A brief flash of teeth, a bitter smile. "I didn't have a plan, didn't care where I ended up. In those days anything seemed better than HIM."

She visibly shivered, Emma seeming to relate a little too much to what Hook was saying. It wasn't a response he had been trying for, her upset making Hook want to reach out and comfort her rather than continue talking. He went so far as to set down his bowl, then remembered himself, fingers curling as he drew his hand close to his chest. She didn't appear to realize how close he had come to touching her, Emma shaking, stirring the milky wet grain with a spoon.

Choosing to spare her the memories of those frightening first days on the streets, Hook began to speak of the day everything changed. The day he had snuck aboard the first ship he was able to, looking more for a dry place to sleep, rather than to set sail for an adventure far from his home.

"It was a lucky day for me...the day I chose to hide aboard the ship of the infamous black beard pirates." Hook told Emma. "Of course, back then if I had known, I most likely would have stayed far far away." He let out a chuckle that wasn't too forced. "Even a boy sheltered from the world of the streets, had enough sense to stay away from pirates. Frankly, I was lucky they didn't decide to ransom me on the spot."

But his fine clothing had been ragged and torn, dirtied enough to be streaked with multiple stains. Young Killlian Jones hadn't looked at all like the aristocracy he had come from, and by the time the pirates might have suspected otherwise, he was already a part of them.

"It was risky business, stowing away on any ships." Hook continued out loud. "If you couldn't pay, often times you were pressed into a kind of slavery, forced to work for your passage. If the captain was honest, he'd let you go at the first port reached. But if he was not...well..." Hook shrugged.

"You wouldn't think pirates would behave better than so called civilized men." Hook said to her with a smirk. "But pirates have their own kind of honor."

"Honor among thieves..." She muttered, before eating a spoonful of the grain.

"Oh aye. It's a very real thing. Pirates may force stowaways into the life, but we're amply rewarded for our troubles."

"I've seen your hold of treasure." Emma said, which made Hook grin.

"We're rich beyond our wildest dreams, even after we divide the loot amongst us." He kept on smiling, liking the thought of the gold in the Roger's hold. "I'd be richer too, should any of my crew decide they've had it with the lifestyle."

"What does that mean?" Emma asked, in between spoonfuls of her grain.

"There's only two ways to leave the life behind." Hook told her. "Have enough gold to buy your way out of it, or..." He ran a finger across his throat, her eyes widening.

"You'd kill them?!" She squeaked out in a horrified whisper. "But aren't they your friends?!"

"A captain doesn't have too many real friends." Hook answered. "A pirate even less so. As a captain I am only as safe as my sword is sharp, might making right on the seas." It was a lesson he had learned with the black beard pirates, their own captain being turned against, a new leader being anointed in the blood of the dead. Hook hadn't been the one to kill Captain Black Beard, or the man who had followed, or even the third. He hadn't been old enough, or skilled enough until time came for the captain's title to pass for a fourth time, and then Hook had made his move. He had been captain ever since, the Jolly Roger christened in the blood of so many dead, Hook deeming it a fresh start as he set off to lead his crew into a new era of piracy.

"You..." Emma was swallowing nervously, having set down the bowl. "Your crew doesn't have all that many men left..."

"Neverland hasn't been too kind to us." Hook admitted. "More than one of my men has thought things would be better if they were to replace me as captain."

"So you killed them...?!"

"I've had to watch my back." Hook retorted. "It's kill or be killed when it comes to being captain of the pirates. We take what we want Emma, even if another man stands in our way."

Emma had paled, perhaps more than she should have in response to his words. He'd catch sight of the disturb look in her green eyes, and then Emma would push away from the counter she had been leaning against. "And your crew is okay with that?" She asked as she began pacing the length of the kitchen. "Okay enough to follow the man who slews their captain?!"

"We respect the strong and the cunning." Hook answered. "If a captain grows so weak as to not be able to hold on to his own ship and crew, is it any wonder the men will fall into line for the one to replace him?"

"It sounds like a terrible way to live." Emma had hugged her arms around herself. "How can you stand it?"

"It was better than the alternatives I faced as a boy." Was Hook's simple answer. It got Emma turning to look at him, her brow furrowing as she processed this. Hook didn't rush her to speak, simply eating his grain as she stood there thinking. Struggling with something, perhaps a concept Emma wasn't sure she should voice.

"I...I always..."

"Yes?" He asked, when she trailed off uncertainly. Emma bit at her lip again, before meeting his eyes with her own.

"I always thought if I-if anyone had their real parents in their life, then everything would be okay...that it might not be perfect, but it would be better..."

"Better than what, Emma?" Hook asked, his voice soft and trying to coax her into opening up more to him. But his question merely got her to shrug, the girl turning away, her hand reaching for the little rack of spices that Smee kept in the kitchen. She didn't try to speak anymore, instead taking out each individual jar, running her fingertips over the names scribbled onto the labels.

His curiosity had been teased to the point of frustration, even with knowing better. Smee would think him worse than a fool, might insist Hook was a glutton for punishment, talking of such things to the girl. Things that could only bond them closer together, things that could only make a fragile connection between them strengthen. One that would make it hurt worse when Pan did kill the girl.

But even knowing this, knowing how much it would hurt, and how much Smee would complain and berate Hook's choice, the pirate couldn't help himself. He felt drawn to the girl, pulled into her story, and knew it was already too late, Hook caring too much about Emma Swan to even play at indifference.

Knowing this made the decision easier, Hook approaching the girl. She glanced at him, and he felt the fine tremble go through her, Hook standing that close to her as he took a spice bottle from her hand. She didn't protest, didn't turn to watch as he began putting the bottles and jars back into the rack. Emma kept her eyes on Hook, who smiled at her once the spice rack was back in order.

"Would you like to see one of Smee's secrets?"

Emma was wary but interested, especially when Hook made it clear the secret had to do with Smee's success at cooking. Her appreciation and interest in Smee's talents with the preparation of foods, had Emma shrugging off most of her caution, the girl taking Hook's arm. She still seemed to shake a little, as Hook led her out of the kitchen, but the girl was brave enough to not let it stop her. Emma's heart was a bold, courageous one, and it just made Hook want to admire her. How much stronger would that admiration become should he learn all there was where Emma Swan was concerned? He didn't know, and in the moment Hook tried not to worry. 

To Be Continued...

Meh..I think it's obvious I stumbled on how to end this chapter, what sort of line or even paragraph to write there. I've been working on this chapter on and off since Wednesday night. Though the weekend was spent rereading this fic. I over think things, and started freaking out that I messed up, especially where Hook and Emma are concerned. I still kinda think I went off balance...rereading shows...at first their interactions were more a fun feel...then it got all angsty with their thoughts and feelings, Hook worrying one way, Emma the other. I'm trying to get back to that fun feel though it didn't happen here...I'm trying to get to a balance of angsty and fun...don't know if I can though. *Starts banging head against the wall*

Thanks go to Zerousy, who got to listen to me pour my heart out and fret about everything I worried about this week in regards to this fic.

Also...I debated on if I should let the canon Hook/Killian back story be the back story here in my fic. But I ultimately decided, that since this is an AU, I could stick to the back story I was coming up for him. I had a line in chapter seven about stowaways, that said something about including Hook. So I already had that planted that he stowed away and was pressed into the pirates ways of life because of it.

Right now I'm just kinda banging my head against the wall...so frustrated and totally not feeling in the writing mood. Kinda hating on my own fic as a result. =/

-Michellle

Midnight0Sun95. oh thanks! :D That's great to hear, especially since I feel so crummy at the moment. So its a cheer me up to read yours and the other reviews. :D Peter Pan does have a role to play, but he won't show up for a while yet. Mainly my game plan is to have about a weeks time before Peter shows up. Could be sooner, could be later...depends on how the relationship stuff between Hook and Emma is going. Right now this is only the start of the second day. Hopefully the days won't take up as many chapters as the first day took up. *dies at the thought* Happy you're interested in reading my ideas!

Angelfan984, thank you! Oh the plans I have regarding his shirt. XD As for Rauol...originally I was trying to have Hook realize she has a knife, and get the story out of her that way about Rauol being creepy. But the way the conversation was going in 12, it never seemed a good spot to put in. So I rearrange things a little where Rauol is concerned, about his being exposed and punished. So your guess is as good as mine as to when/if that happens anytime soon. X_X

ChamberlinofMusic, oh thank you! *blushes at the marvelous update praise* And thank you regarding the moment between them. Happy if it came off right in that chapter. :D Ah it's hard to talk about Peter Pan in this story, without spoiling majorly. But suffice it to say, Hook isn't exaggerating when he thinks about Pan being a demon. This is not the same Peter Pan from the show. Probably something worse...but the show could always throw us all for a loop! I'm very excited to write when he shows up, though what happens shortly after kinda makes me drag my feet. Without spoiling too much, we'll get to see Emma spend time with Hook AND Peter Pan in this story. If I can get the damn story to progress, and stop feeling so depressed myself. -_-

Man this weeks episode was GOOD. Though I still hold firm that Pan wants Emma just as much as he wants Henry. I don't believe for a second he would have truly allowed Hook to leave with Emma. I think he would have gotten Hook to do all the dirty work, than would have killed him, or at the very least denied him Emma. Actually this plot bunnies me a fic idea about how Peter makes Hook the bad guy alone, in Emma's eyes, and then Hook is desperately trying to rescue her and Henry to redeem himself. Something like that...

But yeah, why hasn't Peter Pan tried to turn Henry against Emma in the show? *totally eating up the Neverland story arc*

Zerousy, thanks my friend! And thanks for all the hand holding you had to endure this past week in regards to this fic. XD As for the spices, according to the timeline, it's only been about fifty years since the Indian tribe cut off trading and interactions with the pirates. So they could have enough stock left over...though Smee has a secret, a trick up his sleeves where spices and herbs and seasonings are concerned. XD I wanna see Hook all hook happy too! Heee! And aw thanks about liking the moment between them. *has been seriously worrying that I didn't do the relationship right as you well know*

KendraCs, welcome back. XD Thanks. Especially since I've been worrying I messed up their relationship, so it's good to hear people think it's going better than I feel. XD Oh man, I really can't predict when Emma will grow up. Peter still has to show up after all, and a lot of things must happen...she grows up very slowly in this...I'm kinda freaking out at how long this story might end up being. I get scared it'll end up as long as these two none Once fanfic sof mine. X_X


	14. Chapter 14

Smee's secret turned out to be a room that was brightly lit by the sun filtering in through an additional two porthole windows that had clearly been a last minute addition to the far wall. Together with the two put there by the original designer of the Jolly Roger, there was four windows in all, each open enough to let the sea breeze air out the room. It was a needed touch, for the room was full of smells, Emma's nose tingling as she got whiff of the potent aromas that came from Smee's attempt at an indoor garden.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been that impressive a sight, the garden consisting of only a few potted things. Those plants, which were predominantly of the herbal variety, were all near to the wall with the windows, crowding close together to soak up as much of the sun as they could. Emma couldn't begin to identify the plants, so many of them in their natural forms, where as the spice rack in the ship's kitchen had held the seasonings in their crushed and powdered form.

It wasn't exactly what Emma had been expecting, but if she was honest, she hadn't thought enough to even guess at Smee's secret. Still it was worthy of the reveal, Emma glad Hook had showed her to this room. A room that was sparse aside from the plants, and the things needed to tend to them. A few buckets of fresh dirt, a small hand shovel, even clippers to tend to the snipping of leaves and shoots. There was even a table, with jars both empty and half full, along with the tools Smee must use to crush and preserve the herbs into a usable form.

Emma looked at all this, and as fascinating as it was, she also realized quite a bit of hard work went into the magic behind Smee's spice rack. The kind of work Peter would deem a waste of time, Emma realized with a sinking feeling in her heart. Work that would be one step closer to the drudgery of being an adult, work Peter would in effect say was completely unnecessary. Emma sighed as she let go of Hook's arm, already knowing Peter would reject the idea of a garden and spices. He already hated the work that the lost boys HAD to do, the hunting and sentry positions that was vital to living in the forest. Vital in one way, damning in another, because the more responsibilities the lost boys took on, the more likely they were to grow up. 

There was already a world of difference between the younger lost boys and those over the age of twelve. Though Emma loved all her brothers the same, no matter how differently they behaved, even she could recognized that the teenagers among them were far too serious and stiff mannered. And though Emma had been stuck at fourteen for the last one hundred and fifty years, she had had the fortune to avoid the fate of taking on adult like qualities because Peter had made sure to keep her rooted in fun and play, rather then set any real responsibilities on her shoulders.

Emma didn't want to grow up, and she certainly didn't want to leave Neverland. But sometimes she missed things, most especially that of food that tasted good. Already spoiled by Smee's cooking, Emma was finding she didn't want to have to wait the long periods between visits of mock war with the Indian Tribe, to get a taste of the Neverland natives' foods. She wanted the luxury of having such good tasting food any time she wanted, to the point Emma thought it might be worth it to grow up just a little to make it happen.

Pondering ways to coax a yes from Peter, Emma didn't realize the kind of expression she was making. Her brow furrowed, her lips forming a frown, Emma stood by the table, touching one of Smee's tools. It looked like and was heavy like a hammer, but the head was different. A metal square, with sharp points protruding out one side. She guessed at it's use, thinking it was the thing that crushed and pounded the herbs into paste.

There was some kind of plant that had dried out on the table. Emma didn't touch that, not wanting to risk damaging the fragile looking plant. She wondered though, if Smee would allow her to be present for the preparation of the seasonings. Then wondered if she would ever get a chance to put to practice what she was learning under her apprenticeship to the pirate, if Peter could ever be persuaded to see there was some good to be had from learning from the adults.

"You look as though the weight of the world has been put on your shoulders." Hook's voice startled Emma out of her thoughts. She blinked several times, turning to find Hook had stepped close to her. She hadn't even noticed when he had moved, and her heart beat just a little faster to find him right there, next to her. It was different from when she had walked with him, side by side, with her arm tucked around his. Different because she had allowed it, where as now, it felt as though he had intruded on her personal space without Emma's permission.

"I'm just thinking." Her tone came out defensive, Emma trying to back up a step, only to bump into the table. It shook and rattled, and suddenly Hook was right in front of her, drawing her away from the table and closer to him.

"It can't be a very happy thought."

Emma's first instinct was to look away, but she stubbornly kept her chin lifted, locking eyes with the pirate. "It's not happy nor is it exactly bad."

"Will you share it with me?" Hook asked, holding her stare. Emma frowned, considering it when Hook added a please.

"I was just thinking it might be nice to have a garden of my own..."

"And this thought, it bothers you?" Hook asked.

"Not exactly." Emma shifted, aware Hook was still holding onto her arm. "It's the work that would go into it...Work Peter would never allow..."

"Ah..." Understanding shown in his eyes, Hook letting go of Emma's arm.

"He means well...really he does..."

"You don't need to defend him to me." Hook said, his tone of voice such that Emma was sure he was hiding his true feelings from her.

"Peter just doesn't like us to needlessly expose ourselves to the chance of growing up." continued Emma, feeling like she had to explain. "It's why, why he goes to great lengths to ensure every day is an adventure, that it's all fun and games..."

"Life can't be fun and games all the time, Emma." Hook pointed out to her.

"But in Neverland it can!" Emma protested. "You just have to be careful...careful of what you do, who you meet with."

"Like us pirates?"

"Not just the pirates." Emma said. "Peter doesn't like us to meet much with any of the adults in Neverland. Not even the Indian Tribe, who we meet with the most, for regular plays at war."

Hook had gotten the strangest of looks on his face at that. "War is a very grown up activity for ones intent on remaining young..."

"It's not a real war." Emma insisted. "It's just playing at having battles." The strange look remained, Emma shrugging. "It's fun and the lost boys love playing at fighting..." She tried to brighten up. "And afterwards, we get to raid the camp for spoils."

"How pirate like of you."

She frowned. "It's not the same." Hook just arched an eyebrow at her, his look one of challenge. "It's not!" Emma insisted, stamping her foot on the floor. "The tribe willingly participates, setting out things we can use. We're not hurting anyone when we take our spoils."

"You'd be surprised..." Hook muttered, and Emma stepped forward to stop him from turning away.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, her hand gripping his arm, the feel of muscles apparent, even under the leather of his coat's sleeve.

"I shouldn't say..."

"Why do you do that?" Emma demanded. "Why do you say cryptic things that you never explain fully?!"

Hook stared at her, then glanced down at Emma's hand gripping his arm. She felt flushed, relaxing her hold, and taking a step back though she kept staring at him. "I guess I just can't help myself."

"That's just more cryptic nonsense!" Emma exclaimed. "If there's something you want to say to me, then just say it!"

She watched Hook blink, his mouth opening then closing several times. He looked on the verge of saying something, but then something like guilt flashed in his blue eyes. Whatever internal struggle that might be going on within the pirate, ended with Hook shrugging his shoulders. A response that was intolerable, Emma glaring at him.

"You're not being fair."

"Maybe not." Hook agreed. "But what if you knew something that ultimately did nothing but hurt the person you told? Would you still tell them?"

"I...I suppose not." She reluctantly admitted, then gave him a searching look. "Is that what this is about? You have something to say that will only hurt me?" The fact that he didn't bother with a response, didn't so much as nod his head, made Emma's frustration mount. As did her worries, Emma becoming increasingly nervous as she pondered what it could be. "Is...is there really no other outcome?" She asked, hesitation lacing her every word. "No way to avoid hurting that person?"

"None that I've been able to find." Hook sighed. "So the question remains...Do you let them go on in blissful ignorance? Or do you..."

"If it was me, I'd want to know!" Emma interrupted.

"Even if it's a truth you're unprepared to hear?" Hook asked. "A truth you won't believe but will cause you to second guess much of what you've known? Or worse yet, you will believe, and will spend out your days frightened of what's coming?"

She started biting at her lip, Emma considering the questions Hook presented to her. The pirate made a tsking sound, and then was touching her, his thumb caressing over her poor abused bottom lip. She stared at him, freezing in place with just the tingle of where his thumb touched her lip to ground her in an awareness. Of him, of her, of the fact that they were below deck in a room far removed from the kitchen and mess hall. She didn't feel half as nervous as she would have, had it been someone like Rauol touching her, and yet she wasn't exactly at ease with Hook either.

"That's a bad habit." He was saying, looking at her mouth. "Tearing up your lip like that." She found herself blinking, repeatedly and rapidly, as Hook showed his thumb to her. A faint spot of blood was on it, Emma realizing she had chewed at her lip enough to make it bleed. She blushed then, taking a jerky step back as her own fingers flew to her mouth.

Hook seemed to realize what he had done, a second after Emma had jerked away. He didn't blush, if anything his skin seemed to pale, the pirate dropping his hand to his side. Emma might have questioned the startled look in his eyes IF she had noticed it, instead too busy dwelling on her own reactions and response to Hook.

"I think I know..." She began in a shaky tone of voice, after a few minutes had passed. Hook arched an eyebrow at her in question. "What you're trying to tell me."

His eyebrows went level with each other, Hook's voice flat as he spoke. "Oh?"

"When you...you told me about your past. And about life as a pirate." Emma continued. "You made sure to mention how..well, how risky it is to be the leader of a band of pirates. How the captain must always stay on guard."

"Go on."

"You were warning me, weren't you?" Emma asked. "Letting me know I am only as safe as you are. From your crew I mean. That if something happens..."

"It won't." Hook insisted.

"How can you be sure?!" Emma demanded, but it was more worry than anger that colored her words. "All it takes is one to get lucky..."

"Because I'm determined to not die until I get what I want."

"What you want? Your revenge on the demon who took your heart?" Emma asked, and Hook nodded. She almost started chewing at her lip again, but remembered in time to stop. "But what if...what if there is someone on your crew who wants something even more than you want your revenge?"

"Trust me Emma, there's no desire stronger than mine for revenge." But Hook's words didn't appease her, Emma still fretting and afraid, remembering the look in Rauol's eyes when he had called her beautiful.

"I...I wish I could believe that." Emma said. "But it's not just your life on the line if you're wrong!"

Hook frowned, his eyes troubled. "Has someone of my crew been making you uncomfortable, Emma?" He asked.

Emma's first instinct was to spill all, to tell him how worried she was. Not just because of Rauol, but because of what Smee had unfortunately pointed out. The idea had been put in her head, Emma made aware of how she was the only female aboard a ship of lusty pirates who had gone too long without a woman. The fears were on the tip of her tongue, Emma wondering if Hook would really do anything to vanquish the source of her fright. Or IF he could do anything, and whether it would be better for her to let him. Would he challenge Rauol and others like him to a duel? Would he outright kill the gypsy, or would the gypsy kill him? It was an uncertainty that had Emma hesitating, the girl fearing what would happen if Hook were to lose in such a confrontation.

"It's nothing..." Emma attempted to lie. But Hook wasn't having it, advancing on her, Emma backing up more and more, until the table pressed into her from behind. Hook loomed over her, going so far as to pin her in place with his body.

"I think you are a girl with good instincts." Hook was saying. "And one smart enough to listen to them. If someone aboard my ship is making you feel funny..."

"Funny?" Emma echoed with a sharp inflection to her voice. Because Hook made her feel funny, so unlike her normal self. But it was a welcome feeling when compared to how Rauol had made her feel.

"Who is it Emma? Who has troubled you when they shouldn't have?"

"It doesn't matter." Emma said, but she wasn't able to sound as stubborn and defiant as she wanted to come off as.

"It matters to ME!" He actually growled at her, Emma's eyes growing wide for just one second.

"I can handle it." She retorted, fighting to not bring her hand in a betraying gesture to the knife under her tunic. "Just like I would any other problem."

"You're not alone in this, Emma." Hook told her. "There's no need for you to handle anything, when I'm here..."

"And what happens when you're not here?! What then?!" Emma demanded angrily. "My situation will be a million times worse!"

They were glaring at each other, Emma now red with anger instead of embarrassment. Hook looked just as angry as she felt, the man downright murderous as he considered just who might have done something untoward to the girl.

"Just drop it." Emma finally, reluctantly begged. "Please."

"I can't." Hook retorted. "I won't!" But he stopped looming over her, stepping away from her. "And if you won't tell me what's going on, I'll have to make inquiries of my own." He paced away from her, counting off names. "You've only been alone or nearly alone with a few of my men. There's Smee of course..." Hook turned, watching her now for her reactions. Emma tried to stone wall him, doing her best to not flinch or get any angrier. "And Mason..."

His eyes bore into her, Emma feeling as though she might break out into a sweat. "And then there's Rauol..."

"What are you going to do?" Emma asked. "Kill every last one of them?"

"Nothing so extreme." Hook answered with a grim look. "There are less permanent ways to get the information I require..."

Emma's head swam with gruesome images, her foot stamping hard on the floor. "I don't want you to torture anyone!"

"And I want you to feel safe on my ship!" Hook snapped back.

"It's too late for that!" Emma tried to go for the door, Hook stepping in her path, catching her in his arms. "You're only going to make things worse!"

"The only thing that will make things worse, is if by saying nothing, it stops me from acting!" Hook told her, easily holding onto her struggling form. "Someone is pushing boundaries, testing to see how far he can go, how much he can defy my strict orders. That cannot go unpunished any more than I can allow you to be harmed by this person!"

Emma wasn't fighting nearly as much as she could have, too busy listening to Hook. She was in shock to think he might care this much, that this might not just be about Hook enforcing his orders and his threat. Emma might even want to believe that SHE herself mattered to him, as if she was more than the bargaining chip he sought to use against Peter Pan. It was a belief that would have been nice, if she could believe in it, in Hook, and Emma found herself parting her lips to speak at nearly the precise moment something heavy thunked against the wooden floorboards.

Emma went immediately still, body as well as expression frozen. Hook was still holding her, shifting her with him so that he could look down to see what had fallen to the floor. Emma knew without looking what it had to be, the knife she had tucked under her tunic, having slipped free during the struggle.

Hook didn't say anything for a long time, the knife on the floor a silent accusation of someone's guilt. Emma didn't know what to say, what to do, barely breathing as she waited for Hook to start in again. When he did, his words were much like she had anticipated, only spoken with a quiet rage.

"Who was it?" He demanded. "Who was it that made you feel so threatened that you felt you needed to arm yourself against him?"

"I..." She was still in his arms, held trapped there by the power and muscle of them. "I...if you promise you won't get yourself killed?"

"Oh I promise." But Emma knew better than to relax. "But I can't promise the same for the bastard that upset you..." Emma shivered at that, Hook's voice in her ear, as he again demanded a name.

"Rauol." She whispered, weakening enough to slump against Hook's chest. "It was Rauol."

"The gypsy." Hook growled, sounding more furious than ever she had heard him, even counting the moments that had just passed between them. It made Emma shiver, the girl nerving herself to ask what Hook was going to do now that he had the pirate's name. His answer hardly calmed her, as Hook fiercely spoke of making an example of the gypsy.

To Be Continued...

So..*twiddles thumbs* I was actually intending to work on a different fic, and then I woke up with the start of 14 being clear in my head. Unfortunately, it kinda veered off in the middle from the conversations I had intended. I had wanted to make clearer a little about the timeline. I don't know if anyone has noticed it...it goes something like, Hook has been in Neverland for 300 years. 200 years, 50 years into Emma's life in Neverland, the shamaness told him Pan had what Hook needed most. 250 years into Hook's time in Neverland, was the Tiger Lily incident, so the pirates have been cut off from buying and trading and what not with the Indians for only 50 years.

This chapter was flowing pretty good for me, even with me veering off into other territory conversation wise. I got to do my thing about the knife and Rauol finally...although I started stumbling, cause I felt like Hook and Emma were arguing too much about it. My reasoning is that Emma's reasoning is she's freaked out scared what will happen to her if something happens and Hook ends up dead. So she was trying to protect both herself and Hook by keeping quiet, only I think I didn't do that good a job with it. -_-

For the most part, today I am not hating on my own fic. Yay! Though I kinda still am hating on certain chapters. X_X People tell me all the time I am too hard on myself when it comes to my writing, and I believe that to be true. It's very hard to not be mad at myself or disappointed in myself when I can't get the scenes in my head to translate right into the written form.

Did I ever tell ya that the lost boys fate was inspired by the movie Children of The Corn? I don't remember much of that movie (I think it's a Stephan King book originally) but the one thing I do remember, is whenever the kids turned 18, they had to go into a cornfield, and I guess there was a monster that lived in the cornfield, that killed the now grown children. So it played a big part in thinking up the idea of Peter Pan doing something to lost boys when they grow up.

There's little hints there about certain things. I wonder if people will be like, "Oh yeah I noticed it" when the bigger reveals come that these were hinting at..or maybe I didn't do such a good job at hinting at the stuff. *sweat drops*

Overall, this chapter was a fast one to write! Whoo hoo! So I don't feel too stressed. :)

-Michelle

Guest, thank you! Glad it was a good surprise to get the update notice. :D It was mainly a Hook POV, though I might have snuck in a thought or two of Emma's. But really it was supposed to be predominately Hook's POV. He was do one after Emma had so many one right after the other! XD

I made it fun? Yay! The whole black beard pirates thing, was actually my second attempt. The first attempt SUCKED. So I scrapped it, and started over, trying to make it a less sucky, less dark vibe to it. Still kinda kicking myself, cause as always, it didn't match up to my head, and or there were things I haven't yet been able to work in and reveal. *pouts*

Judging by your review, I'm thinking you're Zerousy, and you were just logged out. *thanks again*

ChamberlinOfMusic, aw you guys spoil me so with comments like that! Thank you...I do try to not be so hard on myself...I was worse a few years back, or even a year back...but I still get frustrated with myself writing wise. I guess I am trying to be a perfectionist when I am not. I just get disappointed and aggravated at my own writing at times. It's always a good day when a chapter doesn't give me much or ANY problems! :D

It's funny you should show me that article. My mom got her tv guide today, and I read that article in it! I think it's cool that so much of the season will be focused on Neverland. I at one point thought that, but recently started wondering if they will be coming back or trying to find Storybrooke before season four happens. But the article seems to nip that in the bud, and confirm it's all Neverland for that group. What was less happy to read was TV guide saying once is down in the ratings. I hope it starts picking up...I want more seasons!

So many fics ideas...I wish I could clone myself or something. So many ideas I want to do justice by. It's quite the balancing act between Emma Hook and Belle Hook fics. XD

Angelfan984, well..I don't hate quite as strongly as I was the other night. If that's any consolation! *hugs* Thank you, you must be excited to read that Rauol got exposed! XD


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